Sacrifice
by Dark Ryuu
Summary: Follow-up to Step Toward the Future and coincides/spoilers with Leave Out All the Rest: Jilliana meets Azuma/Alex in medical school and things are off to a rocky start. Ghosts of her mother's past end up following her and now someone will suffer the consequences. Alternate universe. Story 5 in my Legacy Series.
1. Sacrifice, Part I

**Sacrifice** , Part I

 **Author's Note** : Yo, still sticking around peeps! I bring back a ghost from pretty much ten years ago today. I am rebranding _Sacrifice of Angels_ simply as Sacrifice. No need to be fancy at this point.

In keeping with Sacrifice of Angels, this part doesn't do a lot of depicting but a lot of explaining, if that makes sense. Mostly because I can't get in a jam with these two like others. Their history is interesting but I think the future is a little bit better. You will be getting _far_ more than the original, I promise that, however.

This one is short for current me who averages like a 50 page chapter but Part II, the final part, will most likely be to that standard. It does revamp the original history and Azuma who was always a wee bit flat in the personality area. Jilliana's still a bit fluttery but we have another chapter to work on that.

We have spoilers for Leave Out All the Rest and Steps Toward the Future present, naturally, if you got a chance to read the original. Leave Out All the Rest is somewhere in another galaxy on when I can stomach trying to finish that one. At this point I'd almost go heinous 'it was all a dream' sequence with that dramafest.

Momentary smut in there. Happy reading.

 **Introducing Problematic Reflection:** So admittedly, this stuff is ancient and definitely a product of me learning through life what society tells people to be, what's acceptable, nonsense, just...aging and learning. So as I'm not going to be doing too many massive edits at this time, I will review what may be problematic in the story. Sacrifice I'm writing at almost thirty so at most I'm angry and cynical XP Just drama problematic, I'd say.

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"So let's fail the Bechdel Test."

Izumi Jilliana looked up with a raised brow and a smirk at her younger sister, Izumi Carrie. Currently she'd come over to Jilliana's hardly occupied apartment with her four month old son, Hayato.

It was the sort of thing _Carrie_ would do. One second she was enrolled in college to pursue acting and the next, she disappears on some mysterious adventure for five whole years. None of them saw her, they barely spoke with her, and, when she finally decides to return, she returns with a baby. Jilliana was glad to say she was _far_ more boring.

Jilliana smiled warmly at her baby nephew as they sat on the couch, enjoying a cup of tea and chatter. She wished it hadn't taken _half a decade_ of worrying and tears but Carrie returned a very softer, sweeter person. Before, she was just very gruff and cool. Jilliana never really had any problems with her baby sister but Carrie never seemed to care for either her or their baby brother much. Nowadays though, she'd come visit Jilliana whenever she had even a minute bit of free time in her life. It was seldom regardless but she appreciated that.

When she was in high school, everyone around her announced her a 'model' or a 'dancer' or something very 'pretty'. She was blonde with blue eyes and strangely tall, apparently due to her dad. It was expected that she would only use her looks. While she very much loved going to her grandmother's, the great fashion designer, Yagada, shows, she would hate having to be shuffled in and out of clothes. Not to mention, people treated models to such a varying degree of idolatry and contempt. She wasn't sure she could handle that in particular when she was only going off her genetics.

Dancing was more feasible, she'd been into ballet and classical since she was young. That being said, she wasn't really drawn to it as a career. A past time, yes, certainly, but not every day and as her breadwinner. In her last year of high school, she was really drawing at straws. Her somewhat older cousin was starting school to be a lawyer, her younger cousins Jyun and Kaede knew they'd be into the arts…she really had no idea what was _appropriate_ because anything she thought was interesting wasn't expected.

That changed.

Yagami Yamada was their grandfather, their mother's papa, a gentle soul and a well-known accomplished doctor. They had been at the Yagami Mansion in Subami for dinner when the man came over. Their mother joked that he was secretly glad there were _more_ girls in this family, apparently a point of amazement to him that he had five sons and only one daughter. Jilliana wasn't sure he ever expressed any abject favoritism. Well, before that conversation that changed her life.

" _Hello, sweetie."_

"Hi, grandpa! How are you?"

"Oh, well. How are you? Any ideas on college yet?"

Jilliana had internally groaned but had come up with some excuse. Somehow he just recognized her own buried issues and pulled her to the empty living room to talk in private.

 _"Sweetie, I don't know why it's still going on this far into the future but you are capable of being anything you want. Of course you're a lovely young woman and anything you want to pursue is within your grasp…but I don't think you want to model. I've never gotten that sort of feel from you. I think there are different things you want to pursue."_

…Yes. Jilliana remembered dropping her head before looking up at him, thinking he'd tell her to be realistic. Yes, she and Keiji were amongst the top ten to twenty in the school ranking wise. Her grades were stellar and she felt that was another thing people always doubted. 'She must have cheated' or 'there's no way she can be pretty _and_ smart'. No, she wanted good grades and she got good grades. In her head, she…she wanted…

" _Grandpa, I would like to be a doctor. Maybe obstetrics or internal medicine. That's just not feasible though, is it?"_

Of course, being that not one of his six children decided to follow in his footsteps, grandpa was very excited and supportive. At the time, she thought he was letting his desire to see one heir in the throne affect his reason but he told her seriously. _"I got told I couldn't do a great number of things due to being a blond, blue eyed man, Jilli. You are capable of whatever it is you desire and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, especially when it's attainable."_

So, at the next dinner, she announced she was going to be a doctor. Everyone was shocked and then-teenage Carrie had scoffed. Of course everyone was supportive but a degree in medicine was no joke. She had considered bailing a number of times in the seven years she was in school. She would have if she didn't actually love it.

But failing the Bechdel Test, ay? Rolling her eyes around, she drawled, "Well…"

"I mean, don't get me wrong, you're crazy busy nowadays but you always had one guy swooning over you, at least."

Swooning? Jilliana had zero time for 'swooning'. Swooning was superfluous and working fifteen hours shifts in the ER made superfluities entirely undesirable. What she did have time for due to being a offshoot Yagami? Drama.

It was her perhaps third year of med school when she was going to class. It was all too often but she was recognized as Yagami Yamada's granddaughter. It hadn't helped that occasionally her grandpa would come and teach a course every other semester. Not that she felt anything ridiculous like shame or embarrassment. No, far from it, he'd beam that he was proud of her and she'd be just so excited. Sometimes her bubbliness caused issues.

This was the case in one particular teacher's class for neurology, her grandpa's first field of choice. No, the professor didn't treat her badly. Rather, he treated her _too_ well because of who her relatives were. Other students did not like this and started gossiping that she wasn't attaining the grades she was recognized for but was simply floating by on her grandpa's credentials. It simply…it simply wasn't the case. She couldn't _fake_ being a good doctor. And that's what she wanted to be: a _good_ doctor.

So, perhaps foolishly and answering their heckles, she tried her hardest to answer all questions that were asked of them. She knew things! She wasn't riding on someone else's coattails if she knew things!

Naturally _that_ caused issues though. 'She's a know-it-all' or 'of course she knows that, look who her grandfather is'. It was infuriating so she stopped. She had nothing to prove. Oh, now she _stopped_ answering questions. 'Oh, she's good for this class, huh?' or 'this must be so below her, after all'. There was literally no winning and she had felt her first real bit of doubt since entering school. Would…would this be how they treated her if she became a doctor? All due to a legacy?

 _"I think I've heard enough. You're all ridiculous."_

She'd not noticed him whatsoever. He was behind her and her trashtalkers and apparently would always arrive at the last minute. Jilliana had looked back, startled. Whomever he was, he was tall and he had silky black hair that almost reached his shoulders, bangs cut across his brow. His eyes were closed as if her were exhausted…

 _"What was that, Hattori?"_ spat one of her naysayers.

Hattori? _"I've heard enough, Takuma. I've literally sat through almost all of this semester and heard the garbage you guys say. If she's not cheating, she's trying to answer to show she studies unlike the rest of you but then she's apparently capable of panhandling knowledge from her grandpa—which, even if that is the case, she retained it and is properly applying it to this class which is not illegal—or, now, she's too 'good' to answer the questions because you're jealous. Just shut up and mind your business sometimes."_

"We can say the same about you, Hattori!"

"I can mind my business as long as idiocy doesn't keep occurring in front of me. We're in med school. No one's getting a free pass here so tone it down."

Hattori Azuma. She approached him after class to thank him for speaking up. He just shrugged and told her it was nothing before wandering off. From that moment she knew something was wrong. Even though he just stood up for her? He hated her too.

Normally that'd be her nail in the coffin with people. She had no time for being hated or being bothered by it. Yes, it bothered her in class but that was due to her peers doubting her. She wanted to at least feel others knew she was here for the right reasons. Yes, it wasn't her battle to prove that to everyone but when she was at a hospital with them? When she was in possible surgeries? That was different. People like the ones in high school that just hated her because she guessed she was pretty to some people? Not her problem.

Hattori Azuma bothered her. She'd never met him a day of her _life_.

Jilliana didn't understand. She'd done something she'd never done and found him on social media. He didn't live anywhere near even _Hondo_ so she certainly hadn't gone to school with him or seen him in the city. Common friends? Not even a close one. Work at least? No.

Why? Maybe he didn't mean what he said and was just being sarcastic? But…no. Her classmates had disdain and jealousy. She recognized that. His aura…was actual genuine hatred. It ought to have frightened her. No, she had to know what she'd done to him in apparently a past life.

At the next class, when it dismissed, she called to him on the way out. He paused, at least. _"Have I done something to you, Hattori-san?"_

"Something to me…?"

"Nn. I-I mean, I-I get this feeling you don't actually like me that much. E-Eh, I mean, not like me since we don't know each other at all but that you've got a grudge against me. Did I do something? I-I think this is our first time meeting."

He'd actually looked a bit surprised. Staring at her for a long moment in silence, he slowly shook his head, " _…You're imagining it. I need to be getting to my next class though. Good bye."_

'Imagining it', her foot! She wanted answers!

Hattori Azuma started to ignore her when, after class, she'd ask him where he was from and what he was going to specialize to get to know him. Just flat out IGNORED! It was just… _frustrating_ somehow. Alas, some part of her brain actually switched and told her to stop bugging him. He was allowed to his feelings and she had other things to be concerned about like, _oh_ , med school.

Maybe her mind came back to its senses but fate sure didn't. Near the end of the semester, the professor commanded they partner for a project. At the snap of a finger, everyone paired off with _not_ her and _not_ him. They just sat there, dumbfounded, before she quietly asked if it wasn't something they could do on their own. _"No. It's a partner project_."

So yup, she and the guy that hated her for some unknown reason were forced into a partnership for a grade. Great.

The project was an absolute _nightmare_ of an idea. Take the two specialties they'd decided on or were considering and find a common link. Sitting at the long lab table with Hattori-san, she had given him a look. So she guessed she finally got to hear his specialty. " _What's your specialty?"_

While she expected he'd be highly annoyed with this, he seemed rather calm and unbothered. He glanced at her and said after a moment, _finally_ , " _Pulmonology."_

Jilliana had just stared at him blankly. Oh. He blinked slowly, " _And you?"_

"…Obstetrics."

With that, they both groaned. He grudgingly gave her his email and phone number, stating they could meet in the library to research later if she had the time. She…agreed. That was probably where everything started rolling and where she started to be able to fail the Bechdel test.

 _"…You know, I studied this but I honestly didn't really absorb it the way I should have."_

They met at the library later that night after she messaged what time she was free. It was really a miracle they were free at the same time considering they were on-call for the school hospital. They were searching online when Azuma made that remark, seeming enthralled. " _The hormones during pregnancy can affect the respiratory tract. And the estrogen can cause tissue edema."_

"Can anything be done about it, I wonder."

"I suppose it takes close monitoring and treating it like other respiratory illnesses

" he'd mused.

She had started writing the paper as he stated off facts and the organs and tissues that might be compromised. It worked as they both added insight from their individual fields. They… _worked_ well together. Why did he hate her though?!

He yawned into the back of his hand before shaking his head, seeming groggy. It had been some hours and it was already nine… " _Are you hungry?"_

"What?"

"Are you hungry?"

she'd asked, _"We can go get a bite to eat."_

"…That's probably not a good idea."

Jilliana didn't get his problem. They were doing okay, at least with school work. They didn't really even have to talk when they ate! But…maybe this was just professional. That was fine.

He scrolled for a couple more minutes before he closed his laptop, looking…aggravated. What? _"…Fine, let's run out and get something to eat."_

Really? She asked that he choose, that she wasn't picky. He made a face but decided on sushi. They went to the sushi place about a few miles from the hospital and ordered a few plates. While they waited, she felt the awkward silence and realized maybe she _couldn't_ not talk when eating with someone. So, she hectically pulled out her laptop so they could start working on the project again to have _something_ to say. Surprisingly, Hattori smirked widely.

 _"Are you seriously that dedicated?"_

"W-Well, I AM dedicated—just, uh, I guess I thought we were just awkwardly sitting here…"

Hattori stared at her for a long few moments before pursing his lips. _"…What made you want to be a doctor?"_

Oh. Small talk. _"Well, I dunno exactly how to explain it. I used to go to school with my grandpa and I-I guess I found it interesting. I didn't really consider it because people expected me to model or dance but when he asked what I was thinking of doing, I guess he kind of reminded me."_

"Mm."

"You?"

"…My uncle. He was a doctor and my mom really pressed it in that she wanted me to be the one to follow in his footsteps. Just luckily for her I was actually interested."

She didn't get much out of him about this uncle. Everyone knew her grandpapa so it seemed almost gloating to talk about him. He changed the subject and asked why she chose that specialty. It was…pretty sterile for a while.

However, like most of mankind, when he ordered a couple beers, he loosened up and started speaking a bit more casually. He insisted that if he failed out of medical school he would have liked to be a soccer player. _"I used to love playing, y'know? But mother never let me join a club and forced me to focus on my studies. I liked both, y'know?"_

When they parted ways, she felt a little perplexed. There was one very…odd remark he made after that that had her a little disturbed. He'd said very bitterly: _"But I guess that's your mom's fault."_

…What? How? Her mom? When they met at the library the next day to put the finishing touches on the project, she asked casually if he'd ever been to Mineral Town. He told her elusively " _No_ ". Elusively? It was a small island, 'no' was a common answer. It wasn't that sort of 'no' though. It sounded like a lie.

Carrie blinked languidly at her and Jilliana smiled miserably. They did stellar on their project and she expected they'd go back to an unexplained one-sided hatred. After the class where they did the presentation, he approached her and asked if she'd like to get ramen.

"He is an absolute enigma and I don't understand how men say we're the complicated ones" Jilliana droned, sipping her tea.

Her younger sister snickered, kissing Hayato's forehead, "Tell me about it. Who is he?"

"Hattori Azuma, one of my classmates and sort of coworkers. We don't really work the same hours…"

Making a face, Carrie looked bewildered, "…Are you sure that's his last name? That's not very common."

Jilliana had thought so too but he told her his father was from a very old family, one of the few last surviving former samurai families. He told her he was mostly raised by his mom after his parents separated. Apparently, the death of his uncle, his mother's brother, made her a very different person and his dad tried but just couldn't handle it. _"My dad moved to Honshu and I don't get to see him but in the summer. He's a nice man. I think that's why he struggled with how mean my mom can be."_

He was opening up to her a bit now. They'd go to dinner or lunch of breakfast, depended on what normal or ungodly hour they were up and coherent enough to fathom eating. Yesterday he even messaged her to go out and get drinks with him. He was warming up to her!

 _"I…I know it must be personal but what happened to your uncle?"_

"…Nothing."

Except the areas where he was cemented shut and buried in the middle of the ocean. It all seemed to circle around his mother and his uncle. She…she wanted to understand because it sounded complicated. She couldn't handle much complicated when she was nearing the end, when she was about to become Doctor Izumi Jilliana. Except part of her said do it because fact of the matter was she was starting to like him a lot. Like…a lot.

She miserably took out her phone and pulled him up on Facebook. He smiled recently for the first time. It was perfectly adorable and seemed more fitting on his face than that general deadpan expression. He…he seemed to have had a tough life. Showing him to Carrie, her sister smirked. "What!"

"Nothing. I guess I'm just so used to us going for outlier one thousand with guys that when you show me like the perfect Japanese guy I'm just a little…underwhelmed."

Jilliana pouted petulantly as Carrie handed Hayato to her to swipe through the pictures. "Though maybe it was that profile picture. He is actually pretty hot. Dark eyed guys always look like they're up to no good to me and I like that."

"So warped" Jilliana snickered, kissing Hayato sweetly. "Though I don't know if I've seen you date a guy with dark eyes."

"That's because they weren't for dating. We were up to no good" Carrier winked.

Carrie was one in a million. Jilliana smirked widely, rolling her eyes as she took her phone back. "It's been like, half a year since we started talking and I've not said 'hey, so, can we officially date?' or 'is it insane I'm thinking about officially dating when I have a fifteen hour shift coming up' or…"

"Man, that relationship is going to blow" Carrie whistled, "You're both going to have like zero time for each other. I guess that's better than having someone sitting at home, hoping to see you, but sheesh."

Exactly. Grandma and Grandpa were good at it because they were both on the go. They clearly enjoyed each other's company when they were around but that was the thing: when they were _around_. It wouldn't even be what she considered a relationship if she only saw or spoke to him once a week.

But…she was interested…

"I'll have to see" Jilliana murmured before stretching back, "Did we fail the Bechdel Test enough?"

"I'm always gonna fail it because of my sweet Hayato" cooed Carrie, the baby kicking his feet as he looked at her.

Jilliana smiled and pet her nephew's hair. She…would probably feel better failing such a thing for the same reason. Her luck with men was sketchy. Clearly with her enigma case here…but she'd like to fit 'mom' into her life as well.

Her phone chimed and she looked at the message from Azuma, asking if she was free for dinner later tonight after his shift. Well…one test at a time.

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How did he explain this?

Hattori Azuma wandered toward the little apartment near the medical college, his hands stuffed into the pocket of his slacks. How in the _hell_ did he explain this?

It was a frank fact but Azuma had never met his dead uncle. Never. He was dead before he was born and to him he was just a man he wouldn't get to know. There were pictures of him all over their house though, even shrines and a whole cabinet for him. Azuma definitely would know him if he ever saw his specter, that was for sure. Did he _know_ him though? Not at all. Couldn't. And that's where this spiraled into lunacy.

His mother, Hattori Rinko, had spent her whole life obsessed with the death of her younger brother. Just a year apart, she often spoke of how they were always together up until he decided to go to school for medicine. She decided to become a lawyer instead and she said they grew distant. She was busy defending murderers and thieves, her brother was busy saving people. That's what she'd tell Azuma bitterly as if he was supposed to find some irony to it. He supposed.

Azuma's father truly tried. Azuma was aware enough to see it in every single thing he did. Bringing her flowers, talking to her patiently, lovingly. He would cook dinner and clean the house while mother was crippled with depression and rage. The day the man broke was when she essentially told him he was absolutely worthless and everything he did was useless. While his mother bitterly decried him when he packed his bags and left to start over, Azuma understood his father. Imagine if the man said that to her. She wouldn't have stood for it either.

While Azuma knew he wasn't good enough to play professionally, he really liked soccer. When his dad was there, he was allowed to play in the soccer club and in other recreational facilities. When he left, his mother came full force. _'Focus on your studies and forget all that extracurricular bullshit'._ Okay. He studied and longed to be outside like the other kids but he studied. When he was around thirteen, his mother instilled that he would be a doctor. Not 'you should be a doctor' but you _will_ be a doctor. Okay. Luckily he was okay with that.

When he was eighteen and preparing to select schools, a part of him _needed_ to be as far from her as possible. He was obedient and tolerant, he felt, but he _needed_ to be on another island. Away. She was livid when he selected the island of Hondo because it crept him closer to where his uncle died. It was the first time he put his foot down. Take it or shove it.

 _"The Yagami Family. They're the ones that were responsible, especially Yagami Jill. She's why Tsumaru is dead. Avoid them."_

Yea, sure. So he went about his college adventure, free at last except for the intermittent reminder to beware the baddies, the Yagami. His first year of med school, he was taught by Yagami Yamada. He was a kind man but it started right there: Azuma found he loathed and despised them.

That was it though. That was how sexism and racism continued to persist through a modern intelligent society. Somewhere in the beginning someone buried a seed that made no sense. If Azuma hadn't been fed since he was a small child that some man he never even met died due to an entire family, Yagami Yamada would have been about the nicest and most encouraging teacher he'd ever had. Because of his mom? Yagami Yamada had bred Satan incarnate.

Azuma heard through rumors and whispers about 'Izumi Jilliana'. She was Yagami Yamada's granddaughter. Jilliana. So, the daughter of the one directly responsible for his uncle's death. The end all, the reason he was reminded every day that his mother really didn't care anything about him but her dead brother. When he was in his third year and she was in his course, he was senselessly livid. There she was; Satan's spawn. She was about the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his entire life.

Talk about being confused. Azuma had to tell himself to pull it together and get a hold of the years of hatred he'd been fed. She was tall, blonde, lightly tanned, and had blue eyes. Big deal. He wasn't shallow. He sat out of sight of her like she'd have an inkling of who he was. Her mother probably didn't force years of anger into her.

Despite it all, despite his upbringing and all that he was forced to believe, Azuma could not stand one thing and that was _idiocy_. She answered diligently when questions came up in class because half of their classmates were on their damn phones and not paying attention. They'd backtalk about how she was showing off. Maybe a little but at least someone else was learning, what they were paying to do here. She must have decided she had enough of that though, taking a backseat and not answering as many questions which obviously led to the professor calling people out to answer who had no idea. THAT caused them to start snipping that she was 'too good to answer'. _What_? Out of all his issues, he couldn't stand _nonsense_. He called them out on it mostly to shut them up. What he ended up doing was far worse: she finally noticed him.

His skin crawled when she approached him after class to thank him. He told her not to worry about it and even to his own ears it sounded callous. She seemed to know right off the bat he was bred to hate her. The next class she asked if she'd done something to him. Made his life hell vicariously, somehow. He told her she was imagining it because, in a sense, he was too. She kind of made him dizzy.

Izumi Jilliana approached him a number of times to probably figure why he had a chip on his shoulder despite them never having met a day in either of their lives. Sort of like how he had never met Ishikawa Tsumaru a day of his life. He ignored her and eventually she seemed to get that he was born to be a nonsensical asshole and left him alone. Honestly? He was kind of liking the attention for a moment there.

Azuma was set to not see her ever again except when they were doing murder shifts at the hospital and were so tired they wouldn't recognize their own parents but fate had other plans: a partnership.

He was specializing in Pulmonology and she was in Obstetrics. They were supposed to figure out also how to partner those two and both of them thought they had literally nothing to do with one another. Maybe ironic. She was about the third girl in his life that he'd given his number to. He managed to have two girlfriends back home before his mother shamed them out of interest.

With time and research in the library, he found that their specialties did actually coincide with one another pretty commonly. Maybe ironic. Not quite as ironic as the fact that they worked together pretty well. By about nine, she noticed him dragging and asked if he was hungry and if they should go get a bite to eat. Dinner with the seed of his forced nemesis. _"…That's probably not a good idea."_

Except fine, he was _starving_. There was literally no reason for him to sit here looking stupid with his stomach growling and refusing a good idea except he would be going to dinner with her. Defying his mother's direct orders at that. He remembered staring at his laptop a moment longer and a popup for all the food in the universe appeared. Damn it. _"…Fine, let's run out and get something to eat."_

She made him choose so he went with sushi. Something quick and easy. Except when they were sitting there, waiting, after ordering some plates, it…was awkward. What does one say to someone you're supposed to hate?

Jilliana must've decided enough was enough and took out her laptop to apparently start working on their project again. No way, he was through with that until he had food in his belly so he casually teased her dedication. She told him sincerely it was awkward, as he expected. Fine. _"…What made you want to be a doctor?"_

"Well, I dunno exactly how to explain it. I used to go to school with my grandpa and I-I guess I found it interesting. I didn't really consider it because people expected me to model or dance but when he asked what I was thinking of doing, I guess he kind of reminded me."

So his total opposite. She was expected to do one thing and went entirely left by choosing to be a doctor. His eyes had narrowed when she asked why he chose to be one. He didn't. Your family decided that for him. _"…My uncle. He was a doctor and my mom really pressed it in that she wanted me to be the one to follow in his footsteps. Just luckily for her I was actually interested."_

Oh, naturally she wanted to know more about his uncle. Azuma doubted her mother even mentioned him to her. She probably properly buried him, probably even healthily received and recalled him as a memory, but his mother fed Azuma his memory like an errant, embittered spirit that had to live through him. He wasn't going to talk to her about that. Instead, he ordered a beer. It was a little stronger than he thought, finding himself a bit tipsy after about two or three. He couldn't remember everything but that he might have told her it was her mom's fault he wasn't playing soccer right now. Yea, he needed to keep his distance.

Except…he started to feel conflicted. When he got to his apartment that night, he lied in bed in the dark for hours, staring at the ceiling. There was a cloying feeling of discomfort saying he was wrong for this, that he was consorting with the enemy. Why…was she his enemy? What had she directly done to him that would make it so he should feel ill talking to her? What was his hatred even based on? Years of misinterpreted anger that had even chased his dad away from his mom?

How in the _hell_ did he explain to his mother that _he_ asked her out to dinner all the time?

Dinner, lunch, sometimes breakfast—sometimes finding the strongest, blackest coffee available and trying to catch two minutes of sleep on a bench together. It…

 _It's a crime you let it happen to me; Never mind, I'll let it happen to you. Out of mind, forget it there's nothing to lose…but my mind and all the things I wanted. Every time, I get it, throw it away. It's a sign, I get it; I wanna stay. By the time I lose it, I'm not afraid. I'm alive but I can surely fake it. How can I believe when this cloud hangs over me? You're the part of me that I don't wanna see…_

Azuma pursed his lips as he shuffled up the stairs of her apartment. There was nothing right about this but that was only because it being wrong was buried in his self-consciousness. Except, he let her close enough that he silently trembled every time a guy asked out or looked hungrily in her direction. He let her close enough that now he'd pull her a little closer to him when they went anywhere so he could say that his family hated her but please, don't take interest in someone I should hate too.

All sense, all propriety, all that he _knew_ said he needed to push her away. If not because he was like some illogical negative force against a woman that, like him, wasn't even born for this cataclysmic event that rattled his entire existence, just common _decency._

 _Just fade away. Please let me stay caught in your way…_

"Hi, Azu!"

He smiled weakly when Jilliana answered her door, taking his headphones out of his ears. _You're the part of me that I don't wanna see…_ "Hey…you sure you want to go to this party? I don't think med students know how to have a good time. Everyone will probably be asleep."

She laughed that sort of charming laugh he thought only existed in literature. He didn't know if laughter should be 'charming' but it sounded right for her. "Who knows? We can bail if it's bad, right?"

Yea. Bailing on bad things was probably a mantra he needed to take to heart but in reality, he really did not want to. It'd been a year and she was probably everything missing from his life. Affectionate, warm, comforting, encouraging. He tried to scold himself that that was placing her as a mother figure, that it wasn't actual feelings. Just he knew who his mother was and he knew those were things she wasn't. No, with Jilliana, the lacking wasn't being misplaced. It…was just her. She _wasn't_ his mother.

She invited him in, still wearing her fluffy pink robe. Her hair was already done so she was probably just waiting to put on her clothes. Taking a seat, he gazed around at the pictures she had of her family. Enemy Number One, he thought for the 90th time as this was probably the hundredth time he'd been here, when he looked at the picture of her mother with another blond man. Her dad. Apparently he was a friend of his uncles so he also was villainized. They looked happy. Must've been nice.

"My Yato-chan was over" Jilliana announced, probably in the bathroom, "He's gotten so big! It's so overwhelming."

He wondered what it would have been like to have siblings. They'd probably be as screwed up as him and probably have snitched to mom that sometimes he slept over with the daughter of the devil. Not like _that_ though he found lately he certainly wouldn't mind _that_. With her. That…that bothered him in that insignificantly disgusting level of himself that allowed his mother's vitriol to continue to live. Because honestly? There was nothing even remotely wrong with Jilliana. Had his life been normal, he'd still be in this predicament because he genuinely liked her. Yes, they had been brought together by this dark thread but it…

"Allrighty, I'm ready."

Azuma looked up absently, nauseous, before his eyes widened. The ends of Jilliana's long blond hair was curled, framing her nearly bare shoulders as she was wearing a black spaghetti strapped dress that stopped pretty damn short on her legs. Once she put on those black heels, it was done. No one would _not_ be hitting on her.

He swallowed, standing as she grabbed her keys and a black clutch, walking effortlessly beside him. He silently thanked God that he was almost six feet tall because she'd swamp him otherwise. Azuma sucked his cheek opposite her before clearing his throat, "You look great."

"Thanks!"

"Uh…I think Kubo will be there." Kubo flirted with her like a maniac and she never seemed uncomfortable with him. It was only because Azuma overheard him in the rest area of the hospital say that blondes were 'freaky in bed' that he didn't approve. That and Azuma wanted her for himself but he was just in the way.

"Hopefully it's a good crowd and not too many of the jerks."

Yea. It wasn't a long walk to the rooftop bar where the graduation party was taking place. Some of her girlfriends waved at her, with their boyfriends or love interests, as they climbed into the elevator to take them to the top. He smiled some as she leaned close to him in the small packed place. She smelled like scandal. That probably wasn't a smell but it was to his thoughts.

Azuma remembered his few friends back home would invite him to parties like this and he was forced to turn them down. Had to study, after all. It now made him distinctly uncomfortable. He smirked grimly when he looked down to see Jilliana's expression but momentarily got distracted by her breasts. Yea, he probably would spend his life distinctly uncomfortable.

By some grace, it looked like everyone was pretty involved with someone. The guys were too, thankfully. Azuma was relieved as they sat amongst a group he was at least semi-comfortable with. So it wasn't _too_ bad. Yet. Maybe a drink would help. "Hey, I'm gonna get a drink. You want something?"

Jilliana nodded, reaching for her purse, "A Cosmo would be good."

He waved away her money, figuring she'd added life to his misery so a drink was a pretty small reward. Standing in the absurd line for maybe twenty minutes, he got her two Cosmos and a bottle of bourbon so he wouldn't have to make another trip. By the time he made it back, she was all alone. She smiled at him, raising a brow, "You trying to get me drunk?"

"I've seen you down two Cosmopolitans, you're okay" he joked.

She thanked him, taking the glasses as he sat down beside her, pouring himself a drink. "What happened to your friends?"

"Went to get drinks too" she replied, sipping out of her martini glass.

So they were alone for a little while, huh? He gazed at her in the twilight, the air nice and warm in the late Spring. Soon, she'd be posted somewhere and he'd be posted somewhere. He'd probably be back home and she'd probably be in Mineral. Things would go entirely back to normal and his year of sin was done. He swallowed as, after her first drink, she rested her head on his shoulder. It felt dim.

"Are you looking forward to going home, Azu?"

Even hearing the words 'looking forward' sounded heinous. He made a face and shook his head. "No. I hope they post me to Honshu near my dad, honestly."

 _He_ broke down and called his dad here recently. It had been around three years since he talked to the man and he thought it was on purpose on his dad's part. Come to find out, it slipped his mind that he changed numbers when his new carrier was unable to transfer his old one and his mother _refused_ to both tell his dad the new number _and_ where he was. Yea, that's why he was not going to be happy if he was sent home.

Azuma apologized profusely, explaining and trying to excuse why _he_ didn't call him in that long. His dad actually laughed some and said he figured Azuma was in medical school and probably was trying to hold his life together. He understood. Life would have been better if he could have gone with his old man.

Hattori Hisoka asked if he had a girlfriend. Azuma admitted he had a love interest and that she was the daughter of his mother's mortal enemy. His dad had again laughed but very nervously, telling him that was a good joke. Yea. Yea, it was all a joke. While half tempted to go along with that thought process, just to hear what the man had to say, Azuma told him he was serious.

" _Azuma, you know I want you to be happy, son. But that is literally going to make your mother go ballistic and postal and both of your lives would be nothing but Hell."_

His life was already Hell. His mother called to demand what average he finished with because it had to be the same as or exceeding his Uncle. As far as Azuma was concerned, he didn't actually exist in the sight of the woman that bore him.

"Azu?"

He blinked rapidly, finding Jilliana was staring at him. "Are you okay?"

"Mm. Sorry, got distracted for a moment. Are you going back to Mineral?"

"I hope so. I wouldn't mind being posted up in Hondo, really, but there's just something calming about being at home directly with my family" she murmured.

Staring at the bright stars above them, Azuma found himself smiling though he didn't feel it a bit. "I guess we're going to end up far away from each other, huh?"

Jilliana closed her eyes and fell silent. "…Maybe."

Definitely. She stretched, curling into his side again, and murmured they'd worry about that later. Well, they truly graduated in two days, it might be coming up pretty quick. She took a bit of his bourbon and gazed at him. "Azu, we've been hanging out over a year now and you still feel like a stranger sometimes. Just the stranger I know and have sleepovers with."

Yea. He gulped down another swallow of bourbon and swirled the glass, thinking. He wasn't comfortable to tell her more about him because…because his entire life had centered around being his Uncle. The soccer was him, that was about it. He'd already told her that though. He told her about his dad, that wasn't about his uncle

There…were very few bits of his own life that were about him. She was here for the very few accomplishments Hattori Azuma made. However, even those accomplishments were due to Ishikawa Tsumaru's ghost haunting him. He…he had to weigh the fact that it wasn't appropriate to be with her because she…she had _added_ something to his life. As in, added the only thing in his life he'd ever made a choice about.

He stroked her leg, wondering if he could possibly be someone for her. Someone that could grow interests and hobbies and who could tell her what his favorite movie was that wasn't based on surgical techniques. He could tell her about fictional literature. Music. He was finding music because she told him her brother was trying to start a band. She…was good for him.

But…was he good for her?

"Jilliana…" he murmured, leaning in to kiss her cheek, "…Can I tell you my deep dark secrets tomorrow and you can decide how to answer to them?"

She looked confused and slowly shook her head. "…Sure."

Azuma felt shy. Or inexperienced. Or something, but he wanted to. _He_ wanted to and…and maybe she wanted to too. He leaned forward and kissed her lips this time. She kissed back and ran her hands up his back. Somewhere in the back of his mind his mother was disowning him.

It was his idea that they ditch an okay party and head back to her apartment. He was afraid by the idea his mother might show up early for graduation and see them. He could make an excuse for not being there but not one for her being there. Even…if it was his choice and…

Jilliana moaned, unbuttoning his shirt as he leaned her against the wall, nipping her neck and lifting her dress. He'd…he'd snuck sex. It was a little awkward but he got the experience. It was just that: experience. Even his partner at the time had a goal for the interaction and that was getting better for another guy she had her sights on. Just…sterile. Always studies.

He rasped as she went down on him, sucking, running her tongue up and down his shaft. He wondered if she'd met some terrible guy that used her and ditched her because she wasn't some stereotype. It would have had to have been their mistake because Jilliana…

Condoms. Funny enough, neither of them were concerned. Jilliana cited being on a contraceptive but that wasn't foolproof. He didn't deserve to be a father when he was a clone. Just she assured she wasn't worried about it, whatever that meant, and he'd never felt anything more perfect in his life.

She bit her lip, clenching his shoulders as he rolled his hips inside of her. Something was strangling him while he felt this pleasure. It was choking and he knew it was foolishness. That's all…his life had always been.

Somehow, he could tell she wasn't satisfied when he came. He wasn't used to it, at least with someone he had a thing for. He…he wasn't leaving her that way though. She deserved more.

"A-Ah, Azuma, wait-" she whined as he slipped between her legs.

Just play with the clitoris, idiot. Easy as that. He remembered having a brief section in a class on sexual education and how it was like Level 10 Brain Surgery to some of the guys there. He didn't…think he'd be using the knowledge on his supposed archenemy but…

She actually quivered, her body pulsing as she whimpered and came. It was…very exciting.

It was pent up frustration and defiance that kept him going for about another hour. Jilliana being his partner in the crime just made it beautiful. She was done around one though, falling fast asleep. She curled into his side like she had at the bar. Gazing down at her, he kissed her forehead and knew in about another two hours he would have to go.

He didn't deserve her yet.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Damn it.

Izumi Jilliana threw a cardboard box on the floor hard as she dropped textbook after textbook into it. She glared around, trying to focus on the last pieces she needed to pack. Just figured.

Just figured! She should have _known_. She got played like a fiddle _as usual_. Azuma was secretive and he had shown NO interest in her for months. Something must have clicked in his head during that damn project. 'Oh, she's easy! I can land her quick!'. He played the game well and he finally saw the opportunity to attack. And she let him _right in_. Nope, not even a bit of hesitation. Kissed her and she practically _led him_ here.

He was gone when she woke up. No trace of him. No note, no text, no message. She even called him when her own self-degradation started to kick in and it went _straight to voicemail_. He _played her_.

Trembling, she stared up at the ceiling to fight tears before swallowing hard. Sure know how to pick them, Jilliana. This one worked at it for a little over a year. No guy had that sort of patience but apparently there was _always one._ Breathing out, she ran her hands down her face. She…she liked him. She thought…she _thought_.

Screw him. He could keep his secrets and his enigmas and whatever the hell else his problem was. It was probably all a ruse anyway. He probably had two parents that were perfectly happy together and he came from a nice home and could get away with murder if he wanted. She…she made a mistake being interested. She made a mistake…even thinking.

Pursing her lips when there was a knock at the door, she stood and wandered over. She expected Carrie and Takeru were coming to help her move things but they said it'd take a little while to borrow their Uncle Nelly's truck. Opening the door, her heart instantly froze.

"What the _hell_ do you want?"

Hattori Azuma groaned like _he'd_ been left like a one-night stand, the ass! "Jilliana, I _promise you_ , I did not leave you like a one night stand."

"Oh _really_? What do you call when a guy leaves, doesn't leave a note, a text, or has you _blocked on his phone_?!" she yelled, balling her fists.

Azuma looked exasperated, " _Jilli_. I'm not leaving you a note, that seems even _worse_. And I didn't charge my phone last night, it _died_ and I didn't go straight home after I left here. I promise you, I…I wouldn't do that to you. I'm standing right here, right?"

"Maybe you just _feel bad_ " she hissed.

"I feel bad that I made you feel this way, Jilliana, but I know enough guys that don't revisit 'one night stands' that they were spending time with like it was more" Azuma said seriously.

…Very convenient. Jilliana wasn't convinced yet. "Where were you then? What was the rush?"

"…I told you last night I was going to tell you my deep dark secrets, right?" he murmured, "I…I had to make sure I had the location right, I've never been. I confirmed it though."

What? He looked at her deeply, his dark eyes…rather sincere. "Can you come with me to Mineral Town?"

Eh? While she was still disillusioned and hurt, hearing her hometown caught her entirely off guard. What? "…Mineral Town? Why?"

"That's where this started."

…But he just said he'd never _been_ to Mineral Town. How could his 'deep dark secret' start somewhere he'd never been? He looked at her pleadingly and she…reluctantly conceded. He was dangerous. He…he had too much power over her.

They quietly walked to the Hondo Ferry Station. Somewhat a testament to what he said, he seemed puzzled when she scanned her boarding pass she paid for annually. Well, maybe. It wasn't like he probably needed a boarding pass even if he'd been here before.

He stared curiously out at the islands, alas, asking what was out there. "Smaller farming islands" she answered. Mineral was the largest of them, basically large enough to support around a hundred thousand people. Jilliana raised a brow. While…she felt she might be the deceivable type, it was as if Azuma was looking at this through completely fresh eyes. How did his 'deep dark secrets' start here?

When they arrived, he was even a little shaky getting off the ship. She advised there was talk of a bullet train per the citizens wanting quicker transportation. Azuma frowned a bit, "…The ship was a little different though. Kind of like an experience."

Having taken it her entire life, Jilliana wasn't sure about that initially. Of course, for someone that had never been on one…he cleared his throat as people walked by, glancing at them. "…Where's the graveyard?"

Oh God.

It was _right_ up Carrie and Takeru's alley to be enthralled with a graveyard. They wanted to know people's names and when they died. Aside from the potential aspect of ghosts, of course. She remembered having to supervise them as children but hating every moment of it. As no one really _died,_ she hadn't been back in over a decade now. Almost wanting to say, 'hey, I believe you now' and dismissing all her feelings from earlier instead, she noted he seemed pretty…desperate. Fine.

It was in the old district so they'd end up passing her childhood home, a revamped vineyard that her parents inherited from a lady named Manna that went to live with her daughter. She awkwardly pointed it out to Azuma and he paused as if surprised. "Oh. That's…that's right in the middle of town?"

"A little bit" she agreed.

They continued walking toward the church where the old graveyard was and, like he did for her house, Azuma just stopped. She looked back at him, confused, as he stared at the building a few paces and establishments apart from the church. "Azu?"

"…What is this?"

"The clinic. My Aunt Elli used to work there full-time but they needed a nurse at the Mineral Hospital so she transitioned over. Now it's just sort of urgent care for quick things like colds and a rash" she explained, confused it interested him out of everything they had passed.

He slowly looked at her, a sort of…bewilderment in his eyes. What…? "…I guess your family is very entrenched in this town, huh?"

"I wouldn't say that's wrong" she admitted.

"Hmm."

What? He started walking again and now she was entirely more curious than anything. He was acting like he mildly knew Mineral but this was his first time here. What was it? She took a deep breath as they entered through the fence toward the rows and rows of gravestones. Azuma took a hard breath and slowly started walking each line, reading each grave. Just like her brother and sister! But then, maybe…maybe he didn't know what he was looking for.

She followed him, taking a moment to bow and say a soft prayer to Ellen, Aunt Elli's grandmother. She was the only one Jilliana knew was buried here in some respects. Well, there was one other. That was—

"Here."

Jilliana looked up, startled, when Tsumaru apparently found his target. Her eyes widened, a little alarmed as it was her 'other'. Ishikawa Tsumaru. What…? Azuma stared in silence at the grave as if he expected it to do something before turning to look at her solemnly. "This is the uncle. Ishikawa Tsumaru. He's the reason my life is the way it is."

"…Oh my God" she rasped.

"My mother—their parents were busy people. She was mostly responsible for him even though he was only a year younger. When she went off to become a lawyer and he was here at the clinic as a doctor, she said they grew apart. I…I guess you…you may know the history?"

Biting her lip, she rubbed her arm as this…entered into something distinctly uncomfortable she couldn't have ever fathomed in a million years. Azuma was calm. "I'd….rather hear the other side. I've heard a conflicted view my whole life."

"…Um, my-my mom. She had broken up with my dad and-and she started dating your uncle. She…she started noticing personal items of hers were missing and she'd-she'd always noticed it felt like someone was following her. It-it turns out that my-my Aunt Popuri's brother was stalking her. He-he forced her somewhere one day and-and I guess he was going to assault her after he killed her. My…my papa was able to stop him from shooting her but he-he recovered. Your uncle was there too and…and, when Rick—the stalker—aimed toward my mom and dad, your uncle…intercepted and was killed."

Azuma frowned softly before looking back at the grave. "…See, that version sounds more like the uncle my mom described. Not her…twisted tale of events where he was just weakly thrown into a crossfire he had no choice to be in. He…saved people until the end."

Jilliana's eyes widened as he crooked his neck. "My mother raised me to hate your family, Jilli. The Yagami, the Izumi—that's why I was so callous to you when we first met. I was…bred to hate you for something you had no part in. But like when I spoke up to those idiots in class, I despise nonsense and that's what that nurturing was: nonsense. And, if that is the story, it's all nonsense. Your parents could have been the victims and we wouldn't be having this conversation. I don't think my uncle was the type of person that would have stood for that either."

"I-I suppose. I-I of course wasn't there."

"Neither was I, Jilli. I've never even _met_ this man" he gestured, his lips pursed tightly. "My mother would probably kill me herself but I despise him. I despise him because she has made everything in my life about resurrecting him. She pushed my dad away because of him, she made me study my life away for him, she made me become a doctor for him—there's nothing of _me_ in my life."

Rapidly shaking her head, Jilliana rushed to him, "That's not true, Azu-"

"Jilliana, until this year? Until you told me about _your_ baby brother wanting to become a musician, I don't think I listened to but maybe three minutes of music in my life. Yes, it's all around us but I never _listened_ because it didn't pertain to me becoming Ishikawa Tsumaru's vicarious _clone_. I had soccer. Great. Taken away before the age of ten and my life ever since has been excelling in class and sneaking to _try_ to have a life, _try_ to have friends she made he give up and girlfriend's she needled away. I have lived my entire _life_ trying to be someone else and being taught to hate someone that when I meet I get a thing for."

"Azu…"

"But—it's fair to say that this is a man I would respect for his sacrifice. If my mother had internalized that into something healthy, I'd be proud this was my uncle. She made it something else entirely and here I am, 29 and a facsimile."

Jilliana could only stare as he clapped his hands, seeming resolute all of a sudden. "That is why, Jilliana, I want to ask something of you."

"Y-Yes…?"

"I was worried—mostly because, when I first met you, I immediately thought you were gorgeous and my mortal enemy. Then I was worried when I started trying to force that away that you would think, if I told you this, I was trying to scheme against you. I'm not. I want no part of that. But I want…want to ask that…that when we're probably pulled apart, that, in the future, you'll consider me."

"Consider you?" she echoed.

"Consider me. Consider me when I come back to you with interests and hobbies and a personality—little things a human being should have had by now. And I'm a little nihilistic I'll never have them because it doesn't really matter anyway. But it does. And then, maybe, I'll feel that even if I'm not worthy of you, I didn't try to fit myself into your life as a shell of a person."

This was too much. Jilliana was shaking as she grasped his hands, "…Azuma, I don't know completely and exactly where you're coming from with this but you have never been a shell of a person. You may feel this way because of how you were raised but you are sweet and witty and you make me laugh—you have qualities that make you Azuma, not Tsumaru. I-I don't want you to feel like you need to go out and repaint yourself to make it feel like you need to squeeze into my life. I didn't let a 'copy' in, I know that much."

"…I don't know, Jilliana" he whispered weakly.

She smiled. She got it. He didn't know how to frame it because his whole life it felt like every move he made was at the behest of his mother. He felt like he had to make all of his actions about doing something for someone else. Kissing his forehead, she murmured, "Do this for yourself. As long as that's it, you will always have a place in my heart."

"Seems selfish…"

She shrugged, "It's a thin line but I think you'll know how to walk it."

"Well, at least someone has faith in me" he groaned.

Of course…but… "Azu, your…mother wouldn't approve of us."

"My mother's had to approve my whole life for me, Jilli. I…I don't want to lose what's good in my life because of her misconceptions, her hurt. I don't want to look back and think I didn't pursue a relationship because she made you out as something you're not. I'm…I'm doing too much looking back as is."

…Yes. But…

He took her hand, looking around. "…Show me some more of Mineral Town. Should I pass my own test, I might be looking to move in eventually."

"Okay" she smiled some.

Izumi Jill waited until she was twelve and Carrie was ten to tell them about Ishikawa Tsumaru. She told the story through tears and sobbing. It had affected her mom too. Just…not to that degree. And now? Now…she had met a part of the reason the woman told them at all.

 _"I've…I've gotten death threats from his sister, I think. She doesn't ever say her name on the calls or in the letters but she…she hates me, sweeties. And I don't…I don't want anything to happen to any of you so that's why I'm telling you. People hate us and I…I wish it weren't that way, that they understood I never wanted Tsumaru to get hurt. Never. Just…please, be wary."_

Jilliana didn't know what to do with that information as a twelve-year-old and Carrie certainly hadn't paid it any mind. Now? Now, she was in a sort of relationship with the son of the sister that had apparently threatened to kill her mother.

And he _knew_. He should have _told her_. Except she did understand _why_ he didn't tell her because this most likely would have ended a lot sooner and that…wasn't fair? Like, she didn't even think Azuma thought of himself this way, that he was just supposed to be his lost uncle and that he had no genuine personality or interests. He did, he just didn't see it because he could only see it from the perspective his mother forced upon him. Azuma would see events like paint nights and Bollywood dancing and want to go to them when she would have never even considered it. Hell, he opened _her_ horizons! To think he was internally believing he wasn't… _good enough_?

Jilliana cringed a bit on the inside. She probably would have crushed him if she shunned him knowing. And shunned _him_ for his _mother_. It was just like he was saying, that was nonsense. Yes, he was treating her a little sketchily in the beginning but he opened up to her and became someone she liked spending time with. She would have had to dismiss a good person because his mother wanted her parents dead…

Which…still caused a bit of a twang of terror. What…what if this _was_ a plot and he just knew how to play her?

When they finished her brief tour, getting a text from Carrie they were going to come help with her stuff, Azuma looked…so relieved. "I'm glad I told someone this, Jilliana. I'm…I'm sorry it had to be to your discomfort but you can't understand that…that was so much on my chest. I...I think I will feel better about doing things for me now."

Oh. "I'm glad, Azu."

He was all smiles as they got back on the ferry. "I wish I could take you with me on my journey but you have it all together anyway."

She had to laugh at _that_. "In literally _what_ universe is that, silly?"

No, this…this was very much a test. She…she wasn't sure this was one she should take.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **Chapter Notes:**

The Bechdel Test is supposedly where a fiction piece has the criteria of it having two women that speak to each other at some point and it can't be about a man. There is not _one of my fanfictions_ in this giant ass series that passes this test. And I can't see it going any other way, unfortunately.


	2. Sacrifice, Part II

**Sacrifice** , Part II

 **Author's Note** : If someone had told me it'd take _eight months_ to finish a three chapter story back in the day when I was kicking out three chapters a _week_ , I'd probably cry and wonder what happened in my life. A LOT.

As I posted on Tumblr and in my profile, I had a "mini-heart attack" in February. I've really been struggling ever since and nothing in my body has felt even remotely right. I've written a lot of this in pain or just general malaise.

It has some admitted rough spots to me just because, I have to admit, this isn't my favorite couple. They're very settled and kind of not…chaotic. Not that I'd want them to be but it seems out of character for them to all up and down like some of the others making for some very quiet spots. However! Once I got my ideas flowing, it really started to fall into place and I am far happier with this final product than the previous version from 2008.

I was shocked but I…could not find the ending to the previous version. At all. It wasn't even on the hard drive of my old computer from that time period. I'm thinking I wrote it on my college laptop which is absolutely fried through now. I know I wrote it but it was really weird I have no record of it…

Anywho, happy reading! Some smut and violence as well as language.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

What if he just wants to hurt me?

Izumi Jilliana slumped into her house, having delivered a baby that decided his debut had to be at the glorious hour of four in the morning. He was absolute perfection but after a day in the NICU, his timing was a bit painful.

Dropping her scrubs immediately in the laundry basket she kept downstairs, wandering around in her undies, she had to take an excruciating few moments to decide whether to allow herself to starve or go immediately into a coma. She was dead on her feet already and she could only see microwaving a PopTart at the moment…

She yelped, having been standing in the precipice of her kitchen, half-naked and asleep on her feet, when her phone suddenly rang. The ringer denoted a video call. Rapidly shaking her head, she quickly went to her bag and took out her phone. Jilliana's eyes widened when she saw the caller. Azuma.

…What if he just wants to hurt me?

Sitting on her haunches, staring at his face from a picture she took when they went to a street food festival, she found herself gnawing on her lip. It…it _had_ been about four months since their graduation. That was the last time she saw him. It…it had been four long months of contemplating that simple but deafening question which could contain so much truth.

What if he was just trying to hurt her?

All the same, despite her concerns, her deep trepidations, she answered.

For a second, she was alarmed by the mess of black hair she was seeing. Had someone taken his phone?! Alas, when he looked up, he smiled. "Jilli, hey."

"Azu, it's so good to see you" she murmured, grimacing as she noted her voice was scratchy.

"Ha, I figured you'd be up at this crazy time of day too" he groaned, his voice also distorted, "How are you? I've been so busy, I wanted to call you months ago."

She smiled some, managing to drag herself off the floor before she curled up there to head upstairs. Food could definitely wait tonight. "Making it. Babies are definitely on their own schedule, I can tell you that."

"Yea, I've had some emergency deliveries here and, whoa boy, _that's_ a wild ride you signed yourself up for, lady."

Jilliana couldn't help snicker at that, setting the phone down and wandering to grab a nightgown, "It is. And despite what we did find of our specialties combining, I don't think they overlapped enough _you_ should be delivering babies, Azu. Where are you? Where'd you end up getting posted?"

He cleared his throat. Eh? "So…stick with me here."

Oh God. She pulled on a silky spaghetti strapped pink gown and sat on the bed to pick the phone back up, giving him a look, "Azu, where are you?"

Hattori Azuma was twiddling his fingers. He looked…a little more tanned, now that she observed. And his hair was _way_ longer than she'd ever seen it. She smiled, remembering how he was going to cut it one day when they were in college, showing his school ID from when he first entered. He had had a bowl cut. She'd…been a little biased _against_ it, preferring his current hair. She…guessed when he considered that his mother probably commanded he keep his hair like that, he didn't go through with it.

…His mother. She winced. Not right now, Jilliana. And all that aside, his hair was _way_ different now. He was looking everywhere but her as he drawled, "So I _did_ get offered a posting at Tokyo…"

"So you're in Tokyo?"

"…I…turned it down…"

If Jilliana hadn't been so hell-bent on getting back to Mineral, she would have accepted Tokyo in a _heartbeat_. He turned it down?! "Azuma-"

"I am in Sarawak, Malaysia."

… _What_? She stared at the screen silently, slowly formulating that she was delusionally tired and she was fabricating up this whole conversation. Azuma smiled awkwardly, shifting wherever he was standing, "I, uh, came over and hunted around to see if hospitals would let me kind of shadow more so right now and they accepted it here since they allow foreign students. I had to do some testing and enroll in the school but it's been really neat."

 _"AZU. MALAYSIA?"_

'I'm going to find myself' often held different meanings to different people. Usually, yes, the person threw themselves into a new environment or new situation. Azuma _flung himself_ into another _country._ He groaned as she gaped at him incredulously. "I know it sounds nuts, Jilliana, but this is what I meant when I said I wanted to find out more about myself. Japan is very much my home but if I stayed there, I'd _have_ to stay in my safe ruts because that's all I know. I know literally _nothing_ here. I'm having to learn the language, I'm having to interact with a different culture of people, learn different— _everything_. And I'm really learning things about myself. Like, I really do not like having a ponytail."

Jilliana laughed. "I was going to comment on that next but I thought that may have been a part of your self-discovery."

"Yea, I am not crazy about the amount of shampoo and conditioner and maintenance it needs. It won't be a bowl cut cut but it's definitely getting cut" he droned.

Malaysia. Snuggling under the covers, she tried to smile supportively but that was pretty left field. "Well, I'm…I'm glad you're finding yourself."

He gazed at her quietly before sighing gravely, "…Yea. Of course, I'm sort of thinking I'd be just as okay in bed with you right now…"

She blushed, alarmed, as he stroked his hair back. "You get some rest, Jilli, and try not to work yourself too hard. I have a couple more hours of my shift before I can go die somewhere because I'm zombie exhausted right now."

"All right, Azuma…call again sooner."

"I will. Night, Jilliana."

He clicked off first and she stared at the phone before setting it on the empty space beside her. Before their night together, Azuma was a perfect gentleman. He made sure she got into her apartment okay and he would check on her during her late shifts. The best nights were when he was off and would bring her a home cooked meal for a twilight dinner. They could go see movies together and they could go to parks and festivals. Azuma… _fit_. And, had he just kept the part where his mother wanted part of her family dead, he would have stayed absolutely the one she wanted in her life long-term.

Now though…? Now, even though she also wished he was here and snuggled up in bed or here to go with her to the Harvest Festival or the Goddess Festival or the Starry Night…

…What if he just wanted to hurt her?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _"We really need a vacay, Azu."_

 _Izumi Jilliana remembered that both she and Hattori Azuma were actually off. Like, they were free to leave and catch up on sleep and dissertations. However, after their shift, all they could manage to do for a few…hours was lie in the break room on the hard chairs. She was exhausted._

 _Azuma had closed his eyes, seeming to be fast asleep. He opened his eyes when she made her absent remark. "I've never been on a vacation."_

 _What? "What do you mean?"_

 _"I've never been on one. We just kind of stuck to home" Azuma murmured, rubbing his face._

 _What the hell? She hadn't really known back then, however, what his home life had been like. She rested her cheek on his knee, blinking, "Where would you like to go? A beach, a mountain?"_

 _He had chuckled huskily, rubbing her shoulder, "I can't say I've ever really thought about it. Show me."_

It was a dream then since they were interning at the time, lucky they had a solid day or two off in the first place. Azuma left before they could truly bring it to fruition either. Alas…

Izumi Carrie smirked some, watching as her four-year-old son, Jilliana's nephew, Izumi Hayato, meandered around her yard. "I mean, that would be very unlike you, Jilliana, going to another country for a booty call."

What! Jilliana gave her little sister a look, "I am not going for a _booty call,_ Carrie."

It'd been about six months since Jilliana found out where Azuma was. He kept in frequent contact now, almost like her answering had been his go ahead to stay in touch. He called about once or twice a week to update her on his experiences. It truly sounded inspiring and he sounded genuinely happy. She…she was happy for him.

Yesterday, she was speaking to him about using her vacation time. Her head supervisor kind of pushed that she needed to take her time essentially before she lost it in the next year. Azuma's dark eyes had almost started to glow. _"Come see me then! I can show you around and everything!"_

…That was not really her intentions. She was just going to kind of meander around her house and watch movies. It _sounded_ good though and she hadn't gone anywhere like that in a good long while. In their family, they did get to experience other countries which was a blessing but, since she got into her career, it was almost a nonexistent opportunity.

Azuma was very excited though, stating he could take some days off so they could spend time together. Carrie teased that they probably could spend a lot of time 'catching up' in the bedroom. Jilliana…wasn't so sure about that. And more so? She was unsure of going to an unfamiliar country with him. Her family would know where she was, just…

Dropping her face into her hands, she shook her head. She _implicitly_ trusted Azuma before she found out. Even with his previous shady behavior, once he opened up, they were good and good together. Now? In some irony, due to the fact he was comfortable with her to express this dark information, she _now_ found herself questioning. He trusted to tell her and now she distrusted his intentions. Like he said of hating someone for something they didn't have anything to do with, the duplicity of such feelings were nonsense. But they were there.

Carrie yawned, smiling as Hayato kicked around his soccer ball. "Sis, you're leading this guy on. I know you don't see it that way but giving him the idea that you two are solid when you're questioning if he's just setting us up isn't really legit."

"I know" she murmured, "Truth is, I…I really like him. And I want to not question him. He's not really given me any reason to either, just…I don't know what's an act and what's not."

Her younger sister hadn't seemed as bothered when Jilliana informed her of Azuma's bizarre connection to their mother's background. She did advise that Jilliana needed to be sure when she voiced her concern of his reasoning for pursuing her but that it seemed unlikely. _"Can you imagine being a doctor AND trying to sabotage another human being at the same time? What's the benefit? So he can be charged for a crime and lose all that effort?"_

It was true. Azuma was nothing if not practical. If all he was doing was trying to hurt her, he wouldn't have wasted time on schooling and a career that required so darn much of it. Not to mention he really wanted nothing to do with her at first and it was simply circumstances that brought them together like this. He still could very well just be hating her like before had she been paired with another.

So… "I guess I will go to Malaysia…"

"You can take little tyke and maybe deter any devious plots about murdering you with our baby brother."

Jilliana scoffed, "One, that would put our itoto-san in danger-"

"Takeru is a little _savage_. I mean, a well-mannered, calm savage but he'd probably stab anyone on the fly!"

"—Which I cannot condone" leered Jilliana, "I don't need my little brother stabbing murderous psychos for me because I made a poor decision. So maybe I shouldn't go."

Carrie grinned widely, drinking a glass of juice, "I bet two was going to be it'd be weird smashing around your thirteen year old brother, huh?"

"I'd be lying if I said no" she snickered, shaking her head.

"Just go on and give it a go, Jilliana. Video message me and give me like a tap on the throat saying you're in danger or a temple tap saying you're going to get your brains f—ked out."

"I swear I have _no_ idea what our parents did to you."

Her little sister just laughed. All in all, it…sounded sane. She wasn't entirely helpless, she had self-defense in case her concerns were valid. And maybe she could insist they stay in a hotel so she could at least have…witnesses.

…All of this for someone she once trusted implicitly. All…because of his mother, the one he told her ruined his life. That…

That was a duplicitous feeling too.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Wow.

Jilliana stared around into the night, bewildered. They were an hour apart time wise, Malaysia and Japan, but it took eleven hours to get there. When she learned this, she had to cut down on the days she was here. Both the trip here and back were almost a day. Azuma said he was a bit disappointed but that he understood and would take any amount of time to see her…yea. It was…it was still a little nerve-wracking. What…what were Hattori Azuma's intentions?

When she stepped out of the airport and looked around, she couldn't help smile. He said he was going to look less like a 'bum' for her and she assured she didn't think he looked like one to begin with. All the same, he had gotten a haircut and was currently leaning against a blue car with red flowers in his arms. He really was trying, whatever the case.

"Azu."

He looked up from his feet, his dark eyes surprised, "O-Oh, Jilli! I, uh, thought luggage might take longer, I would have come in."

"I just had a carry-on. I can be a simple girl" she teased.

Why was he so adorable? He shyly handed her the flowers, "Th-these are hibiscus. U-Uh, I never got around to buying you flowers before so-so I wanted to, even if they don't last when you leave."

"Thank you, Azuma. They're pretty" she murmured, hugging his neck.

Swallowing as he crossed his arms at the small of her back, she breathed in softly. He smelled very fragrant somehow. He kissed the top of her head and groaned. "…Man, now I am homesick."

"Sorry" she whispered.

"Nah, I was worried for a second…" he assured, opening the door to the car.

Eh? Going over to the driver's side, he smiled as he got under the wheel. "Are you hungry?"

While she was more sleepy, she did feel a bit of a pang in her belly. "A little, but if you're tired-"

"No way, I've been hyped all day for this. I've been writing lists of everything I want you to see and the beaches—I went to a beach finally! I hate it."

Jilliana laughed, setting her flowers in the back seat as he started up the road, "What?! Why?"

"The sand gets EVERYWHERE, Jilliana. It's like when we had to play with that glitter with the kid's unit and I found it in my refrigerator back home for no intelligible reason."

She bit her lip, cracking up. She recalled how Azuma called her, completely incredulous and like he'd found an alien in his living room. In stitches, she'd tried to explain that glitter was probably sticking to his arm or something but he was just entirely appalled. Yea, sand was probably _not_ his thing then. "Well, that is true. So you're not taking me to a beach then?"

"Absolutely. This isn't probably close to the vacation you had in mind but you listened to my random request and came over. So, I want you to also relax. I know you, lady, you're probably working triple shifts without even being asked" he replied, glancing at her when they stopped for a moment.

With a pout, she crossed her arms, "No…" Just…doubles without being asked.

Azuma smirked because somehow he knew her well. "Regardless, we're going to lounge on a beach so I can have a panic attack over sand and all the random animals roaming around."

"Can't wait" she grinned.

He took her to a small restaurant, gushing that it was his absolute favorite and that he'd wanted her to sample it ever since he discovered it. He was so excited and she wanted this to work more than anything she ever had. They sat outside under an awning, awaiting "laksa Sarawak" which Azuma assured was absolutely delicious. She drank a bit of water and smiled, reaching out to touch his hand. "How's it been here, Azu?"

"Fantastic, really. I'm learning a lot about myself and other medical facilities. It's really eye opening" he murmured, rubbing her palm.

"Well, I read somewhere that Malaysia's government kind of enforces weird laws for housing. Where are you staying?"

Just in case she…no, Jilliana. Azuma sighed gravely, "Yea, I managed to finagle my way around that. It was tough to get someone to overlook me not being Malay or the other common groups. And, you know, Japan still has something of a reputation here…"

Eh? Really? He told her more about the hospital and some of the cases he'd had to handle. He asked about hers after having to assist with open heart surgery and she felt…well, a little boring. "I, uh, delivered triplets the other day?"

"Jilliana, the _one_ baby almost had me passed out on the floor. Three, I'm pretty sure I would have died" Azuma droned.

She laughed, smiling when a fragrant bowl of noodles was brought to them. Picking up the chopsticks, she nibbled at a bit. That was delish… "I guess I just don't feel like I'm doing the broad range of things you're doing, Azu."

"I mean, I'm just kind of being a Jack-of-all-trades, Jilli. I'm not particularly versed at all areas but I can do a little bit of each. My heart is for pulmonology, I can say that for sure, and I think when I come home that is definitely the specialty I want to post for. I'll leave the heart and brain to geniuses like your grandpa."

…It almost sounded like a dig? He slurped his noodle, shaking his head, "Those are our main _organs,_ man. I was looking at your grandpa's success rate and he's a _monster_. No one should have that many successful surgeries under their belt with the issues that can occur in either of those systems. It's like, 98 percent? And there was some weird outlier with the two percent missing, like it wasn't even technically his fault they occurred. It's just crazy."

Yea… "So I guess you've been looking into grandpa?"

Azuma made a face, kind of tilting his head back and forth, "My ridiculous biases made it so I didn't really look at his accolades during school, Jilli, but when I come to another damn _country_ and they're talking about him, I really had to bury the hatchet and see what the deal was. And he is every bit of incredible. I can see how that would inspire you."

"Yea, to deliver babies and make people uncomfortable" she groaned.

"Jilliana, childbirth is _insane_ " Azuma scowled, wiping his mouth with a paper napkin, "And you did tell me you do C-sections which basically requires you to move around essential _organs_ to take out a baby. It's not like going through a box of packing peanuts, lady."

With a snicker, she swatted at him, "I don't know how to feel about that comparison, actually."

"Just stop feeling inadequate. You are bringing humans into the world and ensuring their mothers are healthy. That's what we're supposed to do and I know you're the best at it."

Mmm… Azuma brought the bowl to his lips to drink the broth, cutting his dark eyes at her before setting the bowl back down on the table. "Speaking of babies…have you been thinking about making them with anyone?"

She choked, having to giggle at his bluntness, " _Really,_ Azu?"

"I'm sorry, if I can go back like ten seconds that would have been framed entirely differently."

Biting her lip, she cleared her throat. "Not anyone new in particular, no. I'm a little old-fashioned though and would want at least some kind of commitment prior. Maybe not marriage but at least a framework."

"Understandable" he nodded, folding his hands, "Am…am I still in the race, at least?"

With a smile, she rubbed his wrist, "…Yes. Of course, you might meet a nice girl. Seems like I'm just the first one that wasn't scared off."

"No…" he murmured, gazing into her eyes, "…And yes. I think you rightfully have your concerns but…you're still trying."

Alarmed, she shook her head, "Con-concerns? What do you mean?"

Azuma chuckled lightly, shrugging, "You meet a guy that has spent the entirety of his life being honed to hate your family and he conveniently starts cozying up to you when he meets you. I can read reluctance, Jilli, especially when I have my own trepidations. You're trying though."

God, he was reading her like a book. Pulling her arm away to hug herself, she rasped, "…H-Honestly? I've spent a lot of time thinking…w-…what if he's just trying to hurt me? And…that hurts because before you told me, I-I wouldn't have ever questioned your intentions. Your honesty _caused_ distrust and there's a disconnect for me."

"You are using a very valid defense mechanism, Jilliana" Azuma said, strangely calm, "Not gonna lie, it does sting a bit that you feel that way but, say, _you_ told me your mother raised you with all intentions of burning my family down and I probably would be a wee bit concerned myself. I mean, it's just…coincidental? And like one-sided Romeo and Juliet. The Capulets with their burning revenge and the Montagues that really don't care and moved on with their lives."

She nodded in agreement. Well… "A-Actually, it was years and years ago but my mother did say to beware, at least, your mom. She…she sends my mom death threats quite frequently."

"… _Seriously_?"

Jilliana bit her lip as he looked…angered. "I don't _get her_ , Jilliana. I really _don't._ I looked into my uncle too, at his accolades, and I can tell you now: he wouldn't want my mother going around threatening to _kill people_. She just went so… _left_. And if we do stay together, dinner will be so awkward!"

She couldn't help but laugh. Whereas other people sounded like they said things like that to break the tension, Azuma _always_ sounded like it was a genuine concern. He…he was pretty genuine. "Azu, I promise it will _only_ be awkward because of my five uncles."

"Your _what_ uncles?"

"Five. My mama was the only daughter thus the daughters have their prospective mates hounded for a good five to ten sessions due to how rare we ladyfolk are" she teased.

Azuma slowly shook his head, wide-eyed. "…That scary prospect aside, your grandpa is a neuro and cardio surgeon and banged out six kids? _Six kids_?"

"There were some twinzies in there" she grinned.

"That doesn't mean there wasn't still _six people_ " he declared, aghast. "As an only child, that is…God, I can't even imagine."

Setting her chopsticks down properly, or, what she hoped was properly per their different locale, Jilliana smiled sweetly. "Speaking of siblings, you'd also have to get in good with mine too."

"Oh…your sister and brother, right?" he drawled, "Uh, are they also tough on newcomers?"

"Oh no, they're just crazy in general" she assured.

Azuma snickered, standing and helping her up as they went to pay their bill. "Oh really? I find that hard to believe or imagine given how mild-natured you are."

"And that would be a mistake" she said dryly, reaching for her wallet.

He waved off her attempts to pay for her food, assuring he already had the right conversion of gs for here anyway. She pouted all the same. She wasn't used to that sort of thing…when they went back to the car, Azuma guided it back up the road toward the city. "So your baby brother is some crazy amount of years younger than you, right? Sixteen, seventeen, you told me?"

"Yea, he was born quite late in the game…he's just very…pointed. Like, he's just a little too wise for his current age which doesn't translate into wisdom."

Azuma laughed, raising a brow, "Uh, elaborate?"

"He's smart as a tack, my Take-chan, he's just very…bold with his knowledge. I think he got it from my little sister, they're very similar" she droned.

"Carrie, right?"

She nodded, blinking languidly, "She…suggested I call her and hand signal the nature of our…activities so she knows everything is okay."

With a pout, he shook his head, "I mean, that's…that's not necessary, Jilliana, not at all. I'm just happy to see you. I didn't call you here to…well, you know."

"Oh, I know!" she gasped, waving her hands, "And it'd probably be healthy for it not to go that direction."

He agreed and she yawned into the back of her hand, nodding. Yes. It was for the best and she was tired. This was good though, them talking.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _Well, it was 'good'. They went back to his current abode which she found very charming. It was like the average apartment but whomever furnished it for renters liked a lot of color. Red curtains, goldenrod table cloths. Azu's place had always been very sterile…He got her settled in and offered her a glass of wine while they chatted. Wine. Wine and booze was their downfall._

 _Azuma groaned, kissing and nipping along her jaw, both of them naked and stretched across the almost full-sized bed. Fine, it was a GOOD idea but fact of the matter was she was horny, he was horny, and they were too busy to not consider being bad tonight._

 _"Azu" she rasped, running her fingers through his…long hair. She actually giggled at this and lost her train of thought._

 _"What?" Azu smirked, looking down at her._

 _"Sorry. I thought you had cut your hair but I guess you just got a trim. I've never gotten to run my hands through a guy's hair like this."_

 _"Yea, I wanted to but the lady kept threatening to give me a crew cut so I just cut the ends myself…" he groaned, "So you can have your Tarzan fantasies now."_

 _"Shut up" she snickered, pulling him closer to kiss again._

 _…This would be good. She felt…she felt confident of that. While there was a cloying part of her still fumbling with the idea this was a ruse, it…it was a lot for a ruse, wasn't it? Running off to another country alone made it seem entirely impractical that this was a way to get back at her family. Just the mere idea that that was on the table meant there was an amount of nonsense involved._

 _Just…she didn't want to believe that about Hattori Azuma. She…she would like to more than consider him._

… _What if she tried to hurt them?_

"Dr. Izumi! I think Margo is ready to deliver!"

"On my way!"

Izumi Jilliana was ultimately pleased with this turn of events. Of course she was always happy to assist bringing another life into the world but she was also off after this. Being off at six on a Monday? That meant she could go to dinner night!

Dinner night was the family tradition. It was weird they chose such a stressful day out of the week to meet for dinner but it sort of made sense. After a weekend of relaxing, the lucky ones anyway, and by the end of a stressful week, Monday was just kind of the breather. No one had to worry about what they were going to eat or if they were going to eat, they were going to be served a multitude of different foods. Azuma said he couldn't even fathom it.

It'd been about six months since her vacation. Things had been so fast paced lately that she hardly got to talk to her somewhat-beau. He called when he had a chance or sent her video messages to tell her about his experiences. He seemed to still be enjoying it and…and for that she was glad. Maybe, however, she was a little selfish when she sent the physician posting for pulmonologist that just opened at her hospital to him.

Margo was from overseas, here on a work visa teaching English as a second language. She met a nice guy and they got married rather quickly and now she was having their first child. Jilliana smiled when she entered the room. She secretly kind of laughed when most women told her initially this made them _so angry_ because they were suffering. After, they admitted she really was the heart of calm in a stressful situation. Her grandfather said a stressed doctor for a stressed patient was not a combination for success.

"I hear our little man is ready to show" Jilliana said cheerfully as she sat at the woman's feet, a nurse coming to assist.

It was actually fairly common, to Jilliana's surprise, but there were women that were sheer freaks of nature and completely unbothered by the actual birth-giving. It was sometimes women whom had been through a previous trauma or injury or women with a high pain threshold. She was warned that these patients often could have some complications they didn't recognize until later and to watch especially for them. Margo was actually on her tablet, looking at something. Even she was smiling. "Yea, I'd say so."

All of her uncles ended up having multiple children and she recalled featuring at least one or so on their second or third child, just as calm as can be. She thought they were just nervy but each and every one of them expressed that on their first? _"I fainted clean away on Jyun for a minute there"_ her Uncle Nelly said at ease, speaking of his oldest son. Jyun himself snorted and said he probably would too if he ever actually got someone pregnant. Whatever the case, since Jilliana started doing this, she really only met calm husbands on the _second child_. First time? She smiled comfortingly at Margo's husband who was pretty much crumpled in a ball in the corner. Well, Margo wasn't having a C-section, she lost a number of spouses on that one to fainting.

Margo set her tablet down to start the pushing. Jilliana calmly observed for any obstructions—breach position, umbilical cord compression—it was all things that their technology could pick up now but it was not the tell all. It missed some things and she had to make sure for both mother and child everything was just right.

She relaxed as he was crowning properly and one more little shove should bring another person to this world. Jilliana smiled when the newborn came out, shrieking. Maybe one day.

He was crying his little lungs out as the nurse took him over to be observed by his mother. She waved him away, alarmed, to be cleaned. While in the beginning Jilliana was shocked by this, by some of the women requesting their infants be cleaned up first, when she started to actually look at the child covered in blood and just general unpleasantness, that probably _wasn't_ the first look she may have wanted. Plus, she would want to hold the baby immediately…

Staying for about an hour to make sure mom and baby were okay, Jilliana resigned when baby was fed and mom and dad were cooing over him. Going to her locker, she grabbed a change of clothes to get a quick shower so she could go straight to her Uncle Koji's house. She was _starving._

"Hey, Izumi-san!"

Jilliana was heading for the door when she heard her name. She dreaded that in a way because that generally meant she was about to be called _back_. Fearfully looking over her shoulder, she smiled some when one of the other doctors ran up to her. Dr. Megumi. He was a nice guy… He was also wearing everyday clothes meaning he was also leaving. "Hi, Megumi-san."

"How are you? I was wondering if you're free tonight. A couple of us were going to meet up for drinks at Doug's."

"Oh, put me down for the next one, definitely. I have to see my family tonight."

He gave her something of a look. They always went on Mondays and that was her reply every time she got invited. She could 'swing by' but only for a second. She barely got to see _anyone_ anymore. "Well, c'mon, Izumi-san, surely your _family_ would want you to get out and socialize a little."

…Ugh. "Maybe so" she smiled, "But, well, not tonight. Next time!"

He was nice, he just didn't get that her family meant a great deal to her and he probably didn't even believe her. That was not a plus. Not to mention…Azu.

Sighing gravely as she rushed to the parking garage to her car, she made the fifteen minute trek to the old district where her uncle and parents lived. She knew what Megumi-san was insinuating. Surely her parents wanted her to go out and meet someone to date or marry. No. That was and never would be the case with her family. Her sister and mama may pry but like her dad or uncles or brother questioning it? Nope. Not until it was _mentioned_ so they could annihilate the poor guy.

…She…was a little fearful by the idea that maybe she'd have to introduce Azuma, the son of the woman that threatened to hurt her parents. She'd do so and do so gladly because he was a good person but…that…was a dark shadow over them.

"Thank _God_ , my only _sane child_ is here."

Jilliana looked up as she walked to the door, biting her lip to find her father standing on the porch. She'd text him that she would be able to make it tonight and for Cliff Izumi that seemed to be a relief. The blond man looked exasperated and she could only imagine Carrie and Takeru were just being…Carrie and Takeru. "Hi, papa!"

He smiled and gave her a hug, sighing, "Hey, Jilli."

Walking with him back in, she wasn't _too_ surprised to find her nearing 14-year-old brother strumming Carrie's old guitar madly and singing 'Scotty Doesn't Know' while Carrie accompanied him. Somehow she had to laugh since Uncle Nelly and Uncle Koji were encouraging them with hoots and whistles. While she naturally spent a great deal of time with both uncles, due to Takeru's…rather spontaneous arrival into their family, he may have been dumped off on them a bit more than usual for emergency school and work activities. Uncle Koji apparently during one of these visits took her then four-year-old brother with him to get a tattoo which he let Takeru pick. He ended up picking a very odd idiom for a four year old. "Wake from death and return to life"…Uncle Koji said it was one of his favorites. Takeru may have gotten _some_ of his free-spiritedness from Uncle Koji. Of course, she blamed that mostly on…

"Jilliana, jeez, you either need to take a nap or get laid, you look awful" Carrie scowled.

Yea, it was majority Carrie, Jilliana smirked widely as Cliff leered. " _Carrie_."

"What! She knows it's true."

"I just got off a ten hour shift, Carrie, I am leaning more 'nap'" Jilliana stuck out her tongue.

Yagami Jyun wandered through the room, doing a little shimmy dance as he passed, "But that doesn't mean option two is out of the question for later. Getting freaky after getting some sleep-y."

Jilliana coughed not to laugh as her father just stared at them all pensively. It probably was a wonder how so many of them were so…warped. "A-Anyway, I am definitely more hungry than anything so I'll work on that."

"A full stomach is important too" Yagami Kyo, Jyun's younger brother, chimed in, sitting on the couch with a _giant_ tray of pasta.

"Yea, does that ever happen for you or…?" Jyun questioned dryly.

Giggling, Jilliana headed for the kitchen while the two hit at each other. Kyo had some strange metabolic issue, his body was consistently in hunger mode and churning through energy faster than it could almost be produced. She told a doctor about it in passing once and they said it sounded like a God-send but that was only for someone that didn't have to spend extra time, money, and resources consistently feeding themselves. Kyo always took it in stride though.

When she entered the kitchen, her mum was standing with her other aunts, laughing about something. More than anyone, she wondered what her mom would think of Hattori Azuma…smiling, she waved a hand in greeting. "Hi, everyone!"

"Ah! Hi, sweetie! My God, look at those eye sacks, you need to sleep" sulked her mother, coming over to her.

Jilliana laughed, "I will be doing so immediately after I fill my belly, I assure you."

Her cousin, Yukina Kaede, elbowed her as they exited the room with their plates. "So, I was talking to Carrie…"

"That is never the way I like sentences started" groaned Jilliana, shaking her head as they sat off to the side. Everyone was gathered in the living room.

Kaede snickered, "Well, it's nothing too nefarious. We'll just leave it at does he have a cute butt?"

Choking on a bit of pasta, she coughed and couldn't help giggle. Did Azu…? "Well, it's, uh, a fairly nice butt, I'd say. Not squishy?"

"What about butts?" Jyun echoed, appearing like his ears were magnets to the word.

"No one's talking about the kind of butts _you_ like, perv" Kaede waved her fork at him.

This seemed to perplex Jyun entirely, rubbing his chin. "Odd. I would say I'm unbiased for ass…"

Jilliana grinned, sipping her tea, "Male?"

Now he looked _mystified_. "Wait, women _observe_ those on guys? Like…what do you even want it to look like?!"

"If it hasn't come up, Jyun, I'm sure yours is fine" Kaede teased.

They laughed as he looked back at his own, seeming genuinely confused and probably going to consult with Kyo. She cracked up when Kyo also proclaimed his confusion at this fact. They were so silly. She loved her family…

…What…if she introduced something dangerous here? Takeru must have decided his concert was over, coming to sit beside her on the ground. He chattered with their cousins, gushing about how he hoped to go to a music school soon. Jilliana really wanted him to enjoy his youth because, as far he was concerned, he was about to head off to college at the tender age of fourteen. She pet his head and bit her lip.

…In the vaguest sense, she…she got it, what Azuma's mother must feel. Just…being on the other side…

Her papa requested that she stay over at their childhood home for the night but she needed to rise early to get chores done. It would have been nice to be curled up in the comfort of home. Her house was nice but…something was missing.

Jilliana frowned when she pulled up, noting a figure on her porch. Uh…maybe she ought to have stayed. Prepared to pull away, alarmed someone was here at two in the morning, her eyes widened when they looked up.

Azuma.

Quickly putting her car in gear, she jumped out. "Azu?"

The man smiled broadly, his dark eyes heavy as he wandered closer to her. "Hey, Jilli. Uh…off with your family, I guess?"

"Nn, it was…it was dinner night."

He looked relieved. Probably because there weren't too many reasons she should have to be out until two as an overworked doctor. She blushed as he hugged her tight, kissing her temple. "U-Uh, I'm glad you're visiting, Azu-"

But. "Visiting?" he echoed, seeming confused.

Eh? Before she could question why this seemed weird, he looked enlightened. "I think my service was sketchy so you probably didn't get my messages. One of the department heads that didn't care for me much decided to get me in trouble. My other seniors vouched for me but it was pretty debilitating where that senior was in charge. I couldn't do any work or was questioned. So, like the angel you often are, I got your message about the pulmonology position and I figured maybe it was time I come home."

… _Oh._ "W-Wow, Azu, that's crazy! S-So you have an interview?"

He nodded in confirmation, yawning, "Yea, it's Friday. Gives me a few days of recovery and to catch up with you."

Picking up the apparently one duffel bag he had, Azuma smiled, "So, where's the nearest hotel so I can bug you later without having to hike a mile?"

Oh. Her heart started to race. Well, Doug's, but…

Oh God. Rubbing her arm, she blurted, "W-Well, you can stay with me while you're posting for the position, Azuma."

"Aww, Jilli, that's a sweet offer but I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or inconvenience you…"

"I-It's okay, honest! I-I mean, I won't feel uncomfortable at all." Or…not completely.

Azuma was clearly apprehensive, most likely for her sake. "If…if you're sure, I'd love to stay with you, Jilliana. But only if you're sure."

Nodding, she reached out to hug him. Maybe he was nervous or he was cool as a cucumber, _calculated_. He embraced her back, breathing in deeply. "…It's good to be home."

…He felt normal. "I'm glad you're home too."

She watched as he looked around when they entered, seeming surprised. "Wow, Jilli, this is a nice place for someone right out of med school."

Unable to help a snicker, she sighed, "It shames me to admit I have parents that won't let me struggle my way up like everyone else. And I mean that genuinely because even that sounds snobbish."

With a grin, Azuma shifted his bag from his one shoulder to the other, "As someone whose mom would not only buy the house but make sure everything was furnished, I don't have room to judge."

His mom. "Here, sweetie, you can set that here" Jilliana gestured for him to set the luggage by the steps, "Have you talked to your mom? Did you call her when you got back?"

"Haha, no."

Despite that fact this person they spoke of wanted her and her family dead, Jilliana sulked, "Azu."

He followed her into the kitchen as she put the kettle on for a nice warm drink before bed. She wondered if she even had food to offer Azuma… Azuma sat at her table and rubbed his temple, "Jilliana, I cannot even describe to you the conversations we had while I was away. She 'wasted her efforts on me' and 'what kind of idiot does this sort of thing?'. That's the edited version, by the way, because the real version did bring me to tears at least twice."

She grimaced as he shrugged, flexing his fingers, "I'll tell her eventually. Just right now it'll sound like she was right and I've come back to Japan with my tail between my legs."

"That's not true! You accomplished a lot in your journey! You just had to come back because of circumstances that weren't looking good for you, that's the smart thing to do" she insisted, offering him a turkey sandwich she made before going to work.

Azuma was silent. Just… _ugh_. He was so spirited and happy with his course of action after internships. Now he…he sounded like he felt like he'd failed.

However, he suddenly looked assured again, "This still is the path I want to take. I had no intention of staying there, I wanted to come back here to be with you anyway. Just happened a little sooner than I expected but I can live with that, at least, since I ended up on the same road I intended."

Jilliana blushed, smiling a bit at that, as he took her hands to pull her into his lap. "You get some rest, beautiful, it looks like you delivered a zillion babies today."

Giggling, she hugged his neck and gave him a kiss. It…it felt… "I will after you finish your sandwich and I make some chamomile tea. I felt your tummy growling."

"You always look out for me" he murmured softly, pressing his lips to her cheek.

It felt normal. And fulfilling. And he felt normal and befitting. But what if?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yagami Popuri hummed as she stretched out on their dark colored couch, reading a book in the afternoon sunlight underneath her favorite frilled throw blanket. Having made herself her favorite rose tea, she couldn't ever think of a better way to spend her weekend.

She scowled, alas, when the _house phone_ , a relic and a half of a societal basis that had long faded into obscurity, rang. What the hell?

Her Kochi entered the room with a cup of coffee and his tablet, having just left her side to get a refill of his preferred warm beverage. He took a long sip as he picked up the device, nonplussed that this was the first time it had rang in maybe three months. He usually said he would always be a 90s kid. "Hello?"

Smirking, Popuri watched her husband's face twist with disgust, the skin around his eyes tightening a bit while his jaw grew taut. He didn't say another word as she held out her hand and he passed the phone quickly, dropping back on his occupied side of the sofa, muttering. Pressing the receiver to her ear, Popuri said brightly, "Hi, papa!"

"How did you know it was me given your dingbat husband didn't say a word?" Yamachi Rod grunted coarsely.

"Because he didn't say a word" Popuri droned, rubbing Koji's foot that was near her, "What's going on? Is mama okay?"

Her relationship with her father had deteriorated for years. He watched her raise her oldest daughter with great dismay, feeling Popuri was allowing Kaede to make the same 'mistakes' she did. The mistake of choosing her husband and having his children, she supposed. This coming from a man that had left them for almost twenty years to search out a 'cure' for their mother. Yamada, her father-in-law, ended up treating her mother successfully within maybe a year. She still had some respiratory problems but Yamada said it probably would take some time for that to improve. Thus, due to Mineral's growing infrastructure, her parents moved to a smaller island some miles south of here.

The distance somehow improved things for Popuri and her dad. As was, he wasn't here to criticize her choices and when he called, he spoke to her kindly. It was too bad it was too late for his relationship with his grandchildren and whatnot, Popuri's children very put off by the man, especially with how cruel he was to Keiji. Rod wanted to try but Popuri figured it was best to let sleeping dogs lie. Her oldest children had children and a relationship with a mean grandfather was probably not on their list of priorities. And Koji? Well, her dear hubby was not the type to resolve grudges.

"Your mom's fine. She's off with her sister somewhere, shopping again" Rod informed, "Took her to that swanky place your spouse is from."

Probably confusingly, her mom, Lillia, sister's name was Lillian. Lillia _n_ was the older of the two and was the only child from Popuri's grandmother's first husband before he passed in a car accident. Grandmother remarried maybe three years later and had Popuri's mom. As half-siblings, apparently Lillia and Lillian didn't get along very well. Both of them ended up marrying botanists but one moved to Mineral and the other was actually the next door neighbor to her husband's family home. Koji's oldest brother actually married Popuri's aunt's daughter. That was a trifle awkward though. Koji was far closer to her blood cousin than she was. Alas, again, due to this proximity, her mother and her sister reconciled and now they got along swimmingly.

"Popuri, I did want to discuss something with you. It's about your brother."

And that was one reconciliation she wanted no part of. Popuri felt her eyes narrow like her husbands had, picking up her tea and sipping it gingerly. "What of him?"

"Popuri, _please._ He is genuinely remorseful-"

Remorseful! "Do I need to remind you he tried to kill my sister and brother in law? And that he _did_ kill a respected member of this community?" she snapped, "He may feel remorseful but it doesn't take away what he did!"

"Which he fully understands, Popuri! But he still needs his family, doesn't he?"

The hell. "He should have thought of that before he shot at someone."

"Sweetie, look, I am not going to pressure you or make you feel bad. I'm just asking that you consider. This is mostly my fault. I put too much pressure on Rick to be the man of the house while I was away and he snapped. I failed to consider what my absence would do to either of you."

Popuri set the cup down on the stand, watching the pink hued liquid ripple a bit. It was true, to an extent. Rick was forced to handle a lot of things at the age of eleven that he shouldn't have been responsible for. He became mean-spirited when he once hadn't been and he started to gripe because perhaps that's what he thought father would do. He had no time for friends when he was running the chicken farm their family once owned and he seldom had time for anything he wanted to do.

But she also was without a father. She also had responsibilities that others her age hadn't had. Yes, she had friends and more freedom but that didn't instantly transform her into a more reasonable person. They had the same circumstances. Why was it one of them was serving a life sentence for murder and stalking and the other was sitting in their home with their spouse on a lazy weekend sipping tea?

"…I'll consider it, papa, but I'm still feeling a firm 'no'."

"That's all I can ask, dear. We're going to see him next Friday, if you decide."

"…Okay."

Parting with him, she shook her head. She didn't want to dare look at her husband who probably would be quite pissed about the suggestion. It…it was his sister that was mostly affected. His only precious baby sister at that. Rick…tried to take her away.

All the same, she was curious and glanced to Koji. He was still sipping his coffee calmly and reading on his tablet. He had to have heard. "What do you think, Kochi?"

She'd met Yagami Koji when they were ten-years-old, her charming dark prince. He played a large role in all this, she would say. Had she not met him, maybe…maybe she'd be in no place to compare her and Rick's outcomes. After a moment, he looked to her with his deep eyes and blinked languidly. "You'll never get me there but he is your family."

…Yes. That…that was what the Yagami's mantra was. Family first. Just…no one in the Yagami family had ever killed anyone.

Koji suddenly started to sulk. Maybe he was reconsidering what he said and was going to remark that she shouldn't go. She'd feel better that way, honestly. However, he scooted a bit closer to her and rested his cheek against her shoulder, grumbling, "…If…if you want me to go, I'll go with you. It'll be unpleasant but you're my wife so…"

She smirked, kissing his temple, "I wouldn't do that to you, Kochi."

"You wouldn't be doing anything to me, princess" he scoffed, hugging her waist.

…It hadn't been anything she felt the need to revisit. When it happened, she renounced Yamachi Rick's name as anyone she had any connection to. It had never ached or itched that she did so either. He made his unfortunate choice and now a man was dead because of it. Jill, when she was pregnant with Jilliana, came to her shaken one afternoon and showed her a letter she received from someone. A stranger but not really. Not because of these circumstances. The victim's sister. She blamed Jill for what happened to her murdered brother. Popuri found it ignorant and moronic at best. Jill didn't pull the trigger on that woman's brother.

…Hers had.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _This was perfect._

 _Hattori Azuma wasn't sure what occurred. He had to borrow glucose testing strips from the lead nurse. This particular facility, the patients were responsible for paying for the testing and that wasn't always easy for some of them. He bought it off of her with his own money and somehow it got back to some lead that he was 'stealing supplies'._

 _Only by grace did the nurse and his leads stand up for him to say that wasn't his character. The nurse even showed the money he gave for the materials. It was enough though. Departments outside of that one hid things from him that he needed to treat their patients. All…it ever took was one person to destroy his endeavors._

 _He'd been just sitting outside of the restaurant he took Jilliana when that same angel messaged him. It was a weird message, a hyperlink, actually. He'd opened it, confused, and found a link to a job opening for a pulmonologist at Mineral Town General Hospital. 'Come home' was what it said to him and he needed that. Practically running to his Malaysian apartment, he updated his CV and sent it to the link. When asked who referred him, he put her name. It…might have been a little bit like cheating but he got a call back and that's what mattered more than anything. It wasn't like she hadn't referred him._

 _It was such a swift upheaval. He left a lot and packed the things of significance, things he wasn't looking to replace right away. Taking the address off the care packages of things from home she sent from time to time, he flew into Hondo and told his Uber to take him to the ferry station._

… _It was already late when he arrived so his fear was she was off with someone. Not that that was his right but he worried she'd find someone else. Someone whose mother hadn't threatened their life at some point._

 _However, Izumi Jilliana showed up and had been at her family's home for dinner. Family. That…was the one thing he'd struggle with in regard to her. He loved and respected his father but he…he didn't have anything like Jilliana had whatsoever. To go over to one family member's house in droves on a Monday to eat dinner? It…was such a foreign thought._

 _He took a nice hot shower before crawling into bed with her. Really, he wanted to take this a little more slowly because he was still the son of a psycho. He was prepared to sleep on the couch but Jilliana assured he can just sleep with her. Reluctant, when he came out, she was already fast asleep. She…she very frankly said some of the trust toward him had been lost but she…she just didn't show that very well, did she?_

 _Azuma gazed at Jilliana as she slept, the sun long up but both of them were still beat. He didn't want to move because this was just perfect and…that worried him. It only took one person._

 _She made a gentle sigh sound, shrugging her shoulders hard before her blue eyes started to open. It was weird he was watching her sleep so he quickly shut his. She giggled. "Too slow, Azu."_

 _He pouted and opened his eyes again, "Sorry, seemed like such a creeper thing to do…you're just really cute."_

 _With a smile, Jilliana gave him a peck on the lips and curled against his chest. He breathed in sharply when she started to stroke him. Eh? Nipping his chin, Jilliana purred, "You're cute too."_

 _Azuma breathed out deeply, closing his eyes as her hand ran up and down his shaft. "Careful…I might get spoiled on my first day back."_

 _"Lucky for you, a sleepy day off and a warm bed is enough to make me feel like…spoiling" she teased, kissing his neck._

 _Oh really…? It…it was perfect._

 _It only took one person to fuck this up. And she'd do so with all of her might._

Azuma groaned, squinting when the brighter sun beamed into the bedroom. What the hell…? Sitting up, he rubbed his neck and glanced to the spot beside him. So she screwed him into a coma to steal his energy, huh? Well…he had been more on the receiving end so maybe he should rectify that situation.

Wandering out of the bedroom and down the steps, full of some sort of boldness he'd never been predisposed to, he heard the kettle whistling. Peeking in, he found Jilliana standing in front of the stove. Target locked. Quietly walking toward her, he cautiously reached out to hug her from behind when she had set the scalding water down.

Jilliana jumped a very _little_ but she noticed first. "Oh my, you're naked."

"And last I saw, you were too" he whispered into her ear, "Come back to bed."

"Oh, I would" she sang, "But I have company."

…

…Company?

In all of his life, how he overlooked the figure sitting maybe not even five feet away, he'd never know, but he shakily turned his head to gaze at…company. It was…a shorter Jilliana with blond hair and wild red highlights. She was sipping a cup of tea, blinking at him before smiling _very_ mischievously. "See? Up to no good."

Kill him. Kill him now. He almost screamed as he quickly dropped his hands to cover… _something_. He couldn't even say anything, stammering through syllables and nonsense describing more nonsense. Jilliana actually _giggled_ like he hadn't just exposed himself to the first relative of hers he'd ever met. She took an apron from the pantry and put it around his neck, reaching around him to tie the back. "Carrie, this is the Hattori Azuma whom I have told you about. Azu, this is my little sister, Izumi Carrie."

Oh, hello person that has inadvertently seen me naked. "H-Hello, n-nice to me-meet you" he blurted, shaking, "I-I'd bow but-"

With a laugh, Carrie waved a hand, "No, no, I understand your situation. It's nice to finally meet you as well. I can leave though, Jilli, you need all the bang time you can handle."

 _Eh?_ Jilliana smirked at her, "There's other times for that. I have things to do like laundry."

"Sorry, dude, I tried. Jilliana's always gonna be that practical" Carrie sighed airily.

Yea…he was getting an inkling of what Jilliana meant by her sister. Smiling awkwardly, feeling a draft from behind, he slowly backed up. "U-Uh, th-that's okay."

"Ah! Mama, you make _me_ wear pants! Do adults not have tuh!?"

He needed Satan or Jesus to take him up or down immediately. He fearfully looked behind him and found a tiny…person. The child was staring at Azuma pensively like somehow the naked man in the kitchen had all the answers to all the problems he'd had during his short time in life. No. No, he did not.

"Well, sweetie, you can make that decision when you get there" Carrie snickered.

Jilliana smiled, patting her knee which apparently signaled the child to come to her. "Haya-chan, this is Auntie Jilliana's friend, Azuma. He's lost his pants, is all."

Yea, that sounded like a valid excuse to his sort-of girlfriend's little nephew. Azuma wanted to crawl into a hole and die but sure. Hayato's dark blue eyes widened in recognition and looked to him. "I can help you find them!"

"Oh, that's…so nice of you but…I'll just…find other pants, maybe…"

"You're so sweet" cooed Jilliana, picking up Hayato, "Maybe when Azuma finds his other missing pants he'll kick the soccer ball around with you. He likes soccer too, you know?"

Oh God. He smiled awkwardly when Hayato's eyes lit up. Somewhat unfortunately, he had about two percent experience with children and that was due to his stints in the pediatric ward. Of course, with how much Jilliana talked of Hayato, he figured she'd want him to get along with her beloved nephew. Hayato giggled as Jilliana blew into his cheek, going to the refrigerator to get out a juice box for him. Azuma's smile relaxed. And, of course, she would probably make the best mama…

Slinking into the shower, he quickly bathed and…located these missing pants. Part of him didn't even want to go down there or see anyone that featured his indiscretion ever again. Alas…Jilliana or Carrie really hadn't made that big a deal of it? The kid was more indignant that he couldn't run around naked.

Part of him just couldn't help think how his mother probably would have died of shame right then and there and disowned him. Although, that…probably wasn't a hundred percent unwarranted. He'd only been here a day, who was he to walk downstairs naked in someone else's house?

Miserable, he dragged himself back down the steps. Jilliana and Carrie were sitting at the table, sipping tea, while Hayato played with a truck or something in the living room raucously. Azuma tried to put on his best smile. Try two.

Jilliana looked up as he approached with that gorgeous smile. She…didn't seem ashamed of him? "Here, sweetie, I made you tea and breakfast."

"Thank you. You didn't have to…" he smiled back, sitting beside her.

Excited to be having a traditional Japanese breakfast after all this time, Azuma picked up the chopsticks and declared 'itedakimasu' at ease. Carrie pursed her lips as she poured herself more tea. Eh? Had she grown apprehensive while he was away?! Her brow was furrowed! Almost losing his appetite, the woman grumbled, "They'd having another one of those stupid 'father's days' at school. I think they're doing it just to spite Haya, we're not even close to any fake father's day holidays."

Oh. Calm down there, idiot, not everything was about you. Relaxing, he ate rice as Jilliana shook her head. "I guess preschool wants to have as many events as primary to get them acclimated. And again, where is his daddy…?"

"Hayato has no daddy. He's the product of immaculate conception."

Wha? Azuma raised a brow, confused, as Jilliana gave her sister a bland look. "Eventually I would like the truth on that, imoto. For now, I will accept Hayato's saint status."

Carrie snickered some before gazing off, "…I wouldn't even know how to break it to him now."

Azuma had heard slightly about how Carrie ran off for half a decade without returning home. He wished he was that level adventurer, honestly, but that sounded a bit intimidating. Also, she came back with a baby so…yea, he was good with his mild venture into going off to find himself, thanks. Drinking a bit of tea, he thought about it. Of course, he had a little insight into this.

"Uh, not that…it's exactly my business but my mom divorced my dad when I was younger. I…very rarely got to see him and it was really hard on our relationship. I love him, I like to speak to him, and I will always choose to seek him out before her but it…it's probably not the best father-son relationship. We lost a lot of that."

"Mm…" Carrie murmured, "I'm sure Hayato deserves to know his father. And I'm sure his father would love to know him too. Just…I'm not always a hundred percent certain of that, considering."

Jilliana frowned at her. Sounded complicated…Azuma frowned when Hayato pranced back in, holding a beat up old soccer ball expectantly. Well…didn't sound like they were too different in some perspectives. With a smile, Azuma dabbed his lips. "Do you know what speed drills are, Hayato?"

"Yea!"

"Awesome. Let's do some of those."

Carrie smiled, standing, "Let's get you bundled up, sweetie."

Oh yea, cold. Jilliana kissed his cheek as she stood, "Thank you, Azu."

"A-Ah, no problem…"

They all got bundled up to go outside. He wanted to say they could stay in while he and Hayato played. Of course, he…was probably still on close watch for being a psycho. Thanks, mom.

"Mom and dad wanted us to go over for dinner tonight, Jilli, so we can talk some 'sense' into Takeru. I think the kid is a genius and can definitely go to college soon though" Carrie said as they walked to the front door.

"And I think he needs to try to enjoy his teenage years more! He's only 14" Jilliana sulked, "He only has four more years to wait to go to college."

Carrie rolled her eyes, "Takeru is _gung-ho_ about it right now though, Jilli. We wait four years and he's eighteen like I was, he's going to be crazy and able to do a lot more _legally_."

Huh. Jilliana did pause, wide-eyed, "…Wow, I didn't consider that."

"I mean, it's no _guarantee_ but, at the very least, if he does go crazy at eighteen, he finished his degree."

Jilliana rubbed her chin as she took her scarf off the coat rack near the front of the house. "Or he'd very well be close to doing so…and I guess he is interested right now. Just still! What if he looks back and feels he wasted his youth?"

"He'll be _eighteen_ or nineteen tops when he's done, Jilliana. You're just starting to even try to pull _something_ together by twenty and you're still doing bull by then. He can either have that stage with a degree already under his belt or doing normal new adult shenanigans while trying to get a degree."

Azuma mused. That was a thought. Jilliana suddenly rolled her eyes as she opened the door to let them out. "You almost had me, Carrie, except Takeru is _your_ clone and he'll be up to shenanigans at _sixteen_ in his Sophomore year."

Carrie grinned lazily, sitting on the loveseat on the porch. Apparently they were prepared for this as Jilliana had a stylish heater that Carrie flipped on. "Well, it's possible, but Take isn't _completely_ my clone. He loves music. He always has and, unlike me, I know he can stay focused."

Hayato rushed to his mother when she beckoned him to tie his scarf a bit tighter. Jilliana looked at her smart watch and made a face. "…I guess I can make it for dinner. I'll go for groceries after and I'll just run the laundry through quickly now."

"Sweet. Will you be joining us?" Carrie blinked at Azuma.

…Sweet God. Azuma felt himself grow pale at the idea of meeting 'the one'. He knew it was ridiculous, he knew it was petty, he was falling in love with the daughter. Just…the _actual one_.

… "If…If I'm invited. Of course, this sounds like a very personal matter."

Jilliana bit her lip before smiling awkwardly, "I-I'll leave it up to you, Azu. I mean, my parents are by pretty frequently so you'll probably end up running into them fairly soon so…so I guess we should get it out of the way."

Sweet God. Heart pounding with the knowledge he just got back but was already going to meet the parents, he smiled awkwardly when Hayato tugged his arm to start the 'drills'. He guessed either way he'd be apprehensive meeting a girl's parents. It always had a history of being a trying time for people. Just he would have to introduce himself as the son of the woman that hated them.

Thanks, mom.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Izumi Jill gnawed on the end of a pen she had nearby just for freehand notes, her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail as she stared at her computer screen, the words glaring back at her. Ugh, this was _impossible_.

"Damn, you're sexy…"

Jill glanced back and squeaked when arms wrapped around her shoulders, the familiar embrace warming her as his lips kissed the back of her neck. She snorted once the euphoria wore off a bit, continuing to type.

"I don't know how in my emo glasses and sweatpants."

"Mm, but they're those Victoria Secret sweatpants that curve around you so nicely…" he purred, kissing down her shoulder, "Unn, I've wanted you _all_ day…"

Jill smirked at her husband, the very frisky Izumi Cliff…the love of her life.

He was still in his cream colored dress shirt and slacks from work, apparent that he'd just wandered in. She'd been way preoccupied with this new novel. The deadline was in a week but that was a week too soon.

Yagami Nerimaru, also known as "Nelly", her older brother, had inherited the farm from her when she thought she couldn't stand it anymore. Looking back now, she definitely could have handled it but, well, he had a family and they needed a place to live so she just had to find something else to do.

When she was a teen and not out at rock concerts or parties, she enjoyed writing. It was all dark, crazy, 'I hate the world' kind of stuff but she liked it. And, as she got older, she noted that she liked all types of writing too. So, she just set out at it slightly, figuring she could give it a shot.

Her first story was actually kind of a variation of her own story, telling how she met the man of her dreams and he got hooked on something. She remembered her favorite song and music video growing up being The Perfect Drug and how the main character represented was addicted to absinthe. So, she made the story kind of gothic style with the frills and darkness and what not. Cliff read it and was a little weirded out.

"Uh…we didn't wear bonnets and top hats."

"I know that!" she'd laughed, "But what do you think?"

"It's…sad" he smiled some.

"Sad?"

"Seeing it like this, I feel…like the most horrible person in the world" he laughed anxiously.

God, if that didn't make her want to shuck it into the fire and her recycling bin. Cliff insisted she publish, that it was really good and that people would enjoy it and possibly get some meaning out of it. Reluctantly, she agreed and got it printed and introduced on the e-book stores.

It was very well received.

She was so excited when it got into the top ten selling list for the year, not in just Mineral Town, but in the Western region. Some other areas were starting to receive it and it did fairly well there too.

People…liked it? That was…so cool!

She got signed to write a series and had eagerly started writing the sequel when she got wind of some not so cool news: Some people hated it.

Despite that being how everything in life went, she was crushed and went to Yagami Koji, her other older brother, and whined to him about it. Leave it to Koji though, he just snorted, as indifferent as ever to what others thought about anything.

" _You have to remember, sweetie: you can't impress everyone."_

" _I know…" she said sadly, "But…they HATE it. They're protesting it on forums and social media!"_

" _Of course" he shrugged, "Some may read it as the old damsel in distress story with the overbearing men around her. And then taking back the man that struck her? It's a feminist nightmare."_

 _Jill grimaced, never having even thought about that. As the main character in the story that inspired her novel, she felt like her life had been a bit out of control, just she hadn't thought of it because of her gender or anything. She just…was spoiled? Life beat that out of her._

 _She was really reconsidering everything but her readers insisted on a sequel on the same venues people decried it. She did what the thousands that liked it wanted…and it was a hit. She…enjoyed writing things people liked._

She moaned softly as Cliff nipped at the flesh of her shoulder, reaching up the tank top shirt she was wearing, cupping her breast. Just this guy. "Cliff, do I come and fondle you at work?" she grunted.

"I wouldn't complain if you did."

Jill snickered and sighed, clicking 'save'. She stood, grabbing his tie and dragging him toward their bedroom, "Let's make this quick, pretty boy, I don't have a lot of time."

His blue eyes brightened and she giggle squealed when he picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder to apparently speed up the process.

She sighed when he dropped her into their bed and lifted her shirt over her head whilst struggling out of his tie. She sat up, unbuttoning his shirt as she kissed along his jaw.

"I love you…" he groaned into her ear as she rubbed his back and shifted his pants off.

Jill smiled and kissed him, whispering the sentiment back into his mouth…

"Oi, mom, dad, I'm hungry!"

Jill glared at her only son who just looked disgusted… _as usual_ to be walking in on them, "Can you NOT close the freakin' door? I mean, if I were going to get laid, I wouldn't want anyone just waltzing in!"

Cliff grumbled, flustered, and turned over on his side, as Jill threw a pillow at her youngest child, "If you're hungry, go to your sister's house!"

"So this is what it means to be in a blond family, huh?" he said in a weirdly sober tone, "We're more into having sex than feeding our offspring."

"Takeru, I have never beat you a day in your life…" Jill started, hoping she wouldn't have to word the rest of the threat.

Cliff grumbled, sitting up and stalking to their closet, "Forget it, he's, _unfortunately,_ right. I did invite his sisters over to eat so I'll make dinner. You get back to your book."

Oh yea, that. Jill glowered after her son, starting to consider it a good idea to boot him off now, and caught Cliff's arm before he left. She kissed his cheek, whispering into his ear: "Tonight."

He grinned lazily, patting her thigh, "Better believe it."

She smirked and sat up, redressing, and wandering back to her computer. Biting her thumb, she scowled thoughtfully. Maybe Takeru's intrusion was a blessing in disguise because she had spent four days floundering over this and still hadn't come to a resolution.

Tsumaru.

Eyes glazing, she slouched. Tsumaru…

He had been her lover when Cliff had…his dark moment. She turned to him for comfort and other things. Tsumaru spent their relationship believing she was just leaning on him, that she loved Cliff. And, all right, she did. She loved Cliff…but she loved him too. He…he had died for her. Had it not come to that, she…she would have had the struggle of her life deciding between them. Unfortunately, it could have never come to that.

…Did she dedicate a character to him?

She glanced over her shoulder as her son laughed, Cliff threatening Takeru's life and demanding where his adorable toddler son went. She smiled and stood. Ah well, she'd think about it later. It…was still difficult to think about all this time later. Jilliana was approaching thirty so…over three decades ago and she still remembered that moment perfectly. Jill's father said he'd hoped none of them would have anything that poignant in their lives and it turns out all of them did. Life…was a tough master.

"So what are nee-sans coming over for? Trying to tag team convince me I'm too young for college again?" Takeru questioned dryly, chopping a potato for curry.

"You won't even cook your own food" Cliff retorted in the same tone.

Takeru's brow rose, surprisingly conceding, "Well, you got me there."

Jill chuckled, starting the kettle for tea. Takeru _could_ cook, she made sure of that, he just was too much of a perfectionist. He wanted his food just right and if it were off in any degree that he couldn't rectify after the cooking, he got very irritated. "To accomplish that, you need to get over yourself. Because if I _were_ to concede, there's no way in the world I'm sending you money to eat out for three meals of the day every single day."

She wasn't sure how things like this actually occurred. Her papa wasn't a very strict man but he expected at least _decent_ grades. Surprisingly, her three older brothers were always top of the class. This was really surprising considering she was pretty sure she'd never seen Koji open a textbook her entire life but she'd sure seen him down about two bottles of vodka by himself. It was just the first half though. Tony, her twin brother, herself, and their baby brother, Shaun? Mediocre at best. She knew she would have never made it through college at eighteen. She went back when Carrie went to kindergarten but she was already nearing her thirties by then.

Takeru was 'bored' at school. Not because he found it tedious but because he was always ahead in understanding the topics. He was already a grade ahead of his age and his school was a little disturbed he probably could jump ahead _again_. Cliff had been against it, saying it would be crazy for him to be done with school by sixteen. So, the school gave him another crazy option: he could go to school in the States.

What? They cited that most Japanese schools would want him to be at least sixteen before he started but there were some schools in the states that were okay with allowing young transfer students. So now they had accelerated from him graduating Japanese high school two years early to him going to _America_ to _college_ to graduate with his bachelor's degree at eighteen. Did things like this _actually occur_?

Takeru was beyond excited for the mere option and was pressing that he do it. He wanted to get his degree in music and had been pestering them for the last month and a half. He could get in at the University of Rochester and maybe get into Eastman, he said. Okay. She and Cliff were entirely against it because he was _fourteen._ He just started doing his own _laundry_ and he was talking of going to live in a dorm! Or, actually, since he was underage, he would have to be with a transfer family. Her baby with perfect strangers!

Oh, but leave it to Tony! " _I mean, if he's hellbent, I have the place near Rochester. I know I only go for a week out of the month but we can probably bulls—t a little so he can stay there. I have housekeepers, they can watch out for him."_

It sounded like a perfect nightmare. New York wasn't next door. The only one a thousand percent for it was Carrie, naturally. Carrie was concerned he'd lose his way if he let himself get too old and…well, that _was_ a concern. Her son had fleeting interests and the only ones that were stuck to him were music and her oldest niece's sister-in-law, Sharron. That…wasn't promising in Jill's head? Just who knew what he'd do on his own in a new country.

"Kenji can come with me!" Takeru protested, sitting at the counter as she put rice in the maker.

Motosuwa Kenji was her brother's best friend, Keiba, son. Takeru and Kenji were only a few months apart age wise…surprisingly, since Keiba was an absolute doofus, Kenji was almost a genius. And still a doofus too at the same time. Keiba was pretty free-spirited and prepared to let his son go though his wife was traumatized by the thought. At least Cliff was on her side…

Going to change into some jeans, she rolled her eyes when she came back and Cliff relayed that Takeru had stomped off to his room so they could 'discuss his future' by themselves. "Are we being unreasonable, Cliff?"

"Maybe?" Cliff groaned, "I think we're smart, baby, but I don't think we're at 'I can have two degrees by the time I'm twenty'. We may be thinking of this too strictly. This is a big opportunity."

Ugh. Taking out some plates and glasses for water, she started to set the table, "…Cliff?"

"Hmm?"

"I, um, was wondering…another issue I'm having resolving is…should I include a character based on Tsumaru in the series?"

Her husband frowned as he looked up. Tsumaru saved both of their lives but, at the end of the day, the doctor was sort of his love rival. Cliff's opinion may have been entirely different.

"I think it's a great idea, baby" Cliff said simply, "Just…whose wrath might you incur?"

…Rinko.

It'd been _years_ after Tsumaru's death. Jilliana was at least four when she got one of the evilest letters she could ever fathom reading. The woman detailed how Jill ruined her life and took the only person that ever mattered to her away and that there was a special place in Hell for her. That was the good parts of it. It ended with she would destroy someone important to her too.

Shin, the eldest Yagami sibling, assured he would make certain that didn't happen. Apparently he even spoke with the woman and advised this was not the way to go about things. Usually Shin's words were enough to end a lot of nonsense. The letters started coming every week after. It wasn't until she had Takeru that they stopped.

That still meant it was fourteen years ago and maybe the woman finally came to peace but…somehow in her heart, Jill didn't feel that was the case. It felt like she may have just been biding her time.

"I…I'll think on it. You're right but…it'd only feel wrong not to have him there, at least in story spirit."

Cliff sighed when there was a knock at the door, probably announcing the arrival of one or both of their daughters. With a smile, she gave him a kiss on the cheek as she walked to the door. Maybe she just needed a sign.

Opening her mouth to greet her daughters, her heart stopped when Tsumaru was at the door.

"Hi, mama" Jilliana greeted.

What? What was happening? _How_? They _watched him die_. What was going _on_? Tsumaru was nervously standing behind Jilliana and Carrie raised a brow, Hayato asleep in her arms. "Mama, are you okay?"

"I-"

"Oh, uh, mama, this is Hattori Azuma, my boyfriend" Jilliana quickly smiled.

…What?

Cliff came over to stare, mystified, at Tsumaru's doppelganger named 'Azuma'. The clone bowed deeply, nervous, "I-It's nice to meet you both."

"U-Uh, likewise" Cliff stammered.

"Jeez, something must be wrong for you not to instantly go postal over meeting one of your daughter's boyfriends" Carrie remarked sarcastically.

Jilliana pouted at her and Jill was finally able to find words, "I-I apologize, i-it's just that you look very similar to someone we used to know. Like, twins."

The ghost briefly looked…dismayed? "Yes, I…I've heard that before."

With a grimace, Jilliana nudged them back to allow them all to take off their shoes. "Look, mama, this…may be hard for you and papa to accept but Azuma…Azuma is Ishikawa Tsumaru's nephew."

…Nephew? But that meant… "…You're…You're Hattori Rinko's son."

"Unfortunately" Azuma groaned.

 _Why_? How in the _hell_ did that woman's son just happen to show up _here_ and end up dating their _daughter_?! This had to be a trick! She warned Jilliana about her so she _knew better_! Jilliana quickly held her hands up so Jill's expression must have betrayed her thoughts. "Mama, look, I…I don't know how to explain it because it does sound a little naïve and overly optimistic but I've known Azu for years. We had a rocky start because he knew I was your daughter and he avoided me but we…we grew past that? And he's been nothing but perfect to me and while I had my worries, I-I genuinely believe he's not up to anything for his mother so I ask that you and papa give him a chance. He's…he's had a tough life because of his mom."

"Jilliana, Hattori-san—your mother will not agree to this and if she has now—I don't _trust it_!" Jill proclaimed, having to sit on the couch.

Azuma shook his head slowly, "She…she doesn't even know I'm here. I don't…plan on telling her."

What? She wasn't going to wonder where her kid was? Cliff rubbed his forehead, raising a brow, "…Look, I pulled some disappearing acts myself but my mom and dad were easily aware of where I was. Unless you're starting over with a fresh name, I think that's being mighty hopeful she won't know."

"Well, that's…that's her business. I want to stay here with your daughter and I've let her run my life for far too long to let that stop me."

But _why_? Feeling faint, Jill buried her face in her hands. And she thought _Takeru_ was going to be the topic of the night…

Just like her middle child, Carrie scoffed, setting Hayato down, "Mother, this is a very easy talk."

"How _possibly_?"

Carrie blinked languidly at Azuma who looked confused. "I like you already, Azuma. You're good with my son, relaxed, well-hung-"

Wait, what? "REALLY, Carrie?" Jilliana leered deeply.

Azuma flustered as Carrie waved a hand as though the remark was inconsequential, "—But let's just make one thing brutally clear here because it sounds like your mom doesn't research her shit. We have plenty of people in this family that could see your family dead. There is no amount of power your mother is able to flex that won't see her and you dead if this is some sort of time-consuming ruse to break our family. We have uncles that know people who _know people_ and your mother will not come out on top of this. So, for the sake of effort, if you are here to break us for mommy dearest, there are enough people behind us all to _erase you_."

That wasn't…well…all true? Jill frowned, about to blurt this wasn't the case. More so because it made her family sound like the mob than concerns that Azuma would take it badly. Alas, Cliff actually raised a brow toward her, wordlessly questioning if she was actually going to say otherwise and she groaned. No, it was about _two hundred_ percent true because if it wasn't going to be the Yagami side, the Izumi side was there too.

Despite this very black threat, Azuma looked…resolved. " _I_ want to be with your daughter. I have had zero control on anything in my life and _I_ am making the decision to be here with Jilliana. I can't…I can't make decisions for my mother, unfortunately, so I don't know what she will do but I promise you I will be on this side. Jilliana has…has already been more family than I've really ever had."

Jilliana bit her lip, clasping his hand, as he bowed his head. It…wasn't enough of a reassurance but what could Jill say? 'Dump him?'. This…was just yet another coincidental moment in the life of the Yagami. Jill weakly nodded, hugging herself, "Okay."

"I know it's not, ma'am. And even Jilliana has told me she is concerned. I just hope I can prove to you all that I…I don't want that sort of thing in my life. She force fed it to me but I don't…I don't want it. I'll prove it to you" Azuma said, staring at her resolutely.

…Okay.

Well…she guessed she was going to have to write Tsumaru into her book now.

Hattori Rinko was coming regardless.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _"So I'm your boyfriend?"_

 _Jilliana jumped, startled, as they walked back toward her house. Dinner was awkward, her baby brother pissed off they were reluctant to send him off to college and her parents nervous about Azuma. Maybe she should have held off…_

 _However, once they parted from Hayato and Carrie, walking them home on the way, Azuma quietly murmured about her rather…forward slip of the tongue. "I'm sorry, that…that was very brusque of me."_

 _"Not at all if you're okay with it being true."_

 _Pouting, blushing, she hugged herself, "I-I'm okay with it being true if you are."_

 _Azuma smiled and kissed her temple, pulling her closer to him in the cold night, "Tonight was pretty good then."_

 _"Azuma…I-I have to agree though, your mother will not be okay with this."_

 _"So let her be" Azuma scoffed, his breath fogging the air, "I've told you, Jilli, I am over being her pawn and her clay to shape to be her dead brother. We had no control over that—your parents didn't either. The one that pulled that trigger is in jail and she ought to be happy with that."_

 _True…her aunt's brother, an example of how crazy their circumstances were in the first place, was serving life for that crime. Hattori Rinko should have left it at that. The way she acted, the way she taught Azu, it sounded like Jilliana's mom was the one that pulled the trigger…_

 _That chapter was closed. Yamachi Rick would answer for his crimes forever and Rinko would need to learn to accept that._

"I beg the f—k your pardon?"

Yagami Popuri had an absolute migraine as she entered her home in the old district of Mineral Town. Her husband had greeted her with a glass of wine, having known that she would need it. What he hadn't known was exactly _how much_.

She mused long and hard over the phone call with her dad for the week. She hadn't seen her brother in well over twenty years and she was growing an impression. She wasn't under it because part of herself knew better but one was sort of sprouting from her head that maybe she needed to confirm her brother had changed. It'd never change what he did and no amount of regret would make it any better or bring back the life he took but just maybe.

So, with this tree of thought emerging from her reason, she called her parents and agreed to the venture. Both of them were thrilled and even came to pick her up. The feeling Popuri had of meeting up with her parents to visit a prison somehow wilted her little tree. It seemed a little…off?

Not immediately put off, Popuri made the small journey across the sea on the ferry. Mineral Town itself did not have a prison or jail, exactly. It was sort of like those old westerns where criminals were held in a very small area until being escorted to a facility on the mainland. It was one reason her brother-in-law Shin and her cousin Lyla never moved to Mineral Town, being he was an officer and all. There was so little crime to begin with it wasn't even worth it. Lo, there was some rumor of one being implemented as more people came in…

Koji would have probably been arrested had he been there when the cops patted her down a little too vigorously, especially around her chest. She gave the perp a look to kill when he suggested she 'definitely could smuggle something in'. Her father, oblivious to anything, didn't seem to notice and it was just infinitely ironic, as all things Yagami, that the forementioned Yagami Shin was present and passing. Shin lightly suggested that the errant office quickly remove his hands before something unfortunate occurred and Popuri probably could have come in with an assault rifle with as quickly as the man disappeared. Her tree was very much dying.

She held strong though. She sat in the room with her parents and, like a phantom, Yamachi Rick was brought into the room.

His hair was still long which seemed odd. He was a bit scruffier though and muscular. Shuffling in in the striped prison uniform, he sat across from them and she could only stare.

…What do you even say to someone that has been in prison for over thirty years?

'How is your day?'? They were in _prison_. 'What have you been up to?'? _In prison_. 'So have you met anyone?'? Maybe, but they were in _prison_. This was a mistake.

"Hello, Popuri" Rick greeted.

"…Hi, Rick."

"You're looking well, dear" Lillia said, reaching out to pat his hands, "It looks like you've been working out a lot more."

"Yea" he agreed, "Not much else to do around here."

…Small talk. Small talk where one of the parties had a limited scope on all possibilities because they'd made it that way. Popuri just…remained silent. It'd seem gloating to speak of her beautiful home and family. It wasn't a mistake that he was here but…it didn't seem proper.

And, unfortunately, her dear father decided to chop down her tree.

"Popuri, there is a little extra reason I asked you to consider coming here." __

Oh, of course! "And what's _that_ , dad?"

Her mother looked at him inquisitively, signaling that she was unaware of this 'extra' motive. Rod looked unbothered, "Your brother is up for parole. He _only_ has good behavior on his record and you can see he's changed. His lawyer said his chances of getting out are increased if a member of the victim's family comes forward."

"I… _what_?"

"We were thinking that maybe someone in your sister-in-law's family could be convinced to speak up for his reform."

There was a better chance…of Popuri founding a colony of unicorns and fairies on the planet Venus after she _drove there_ in a magical car. In addition, _what the hell_?! "Rick has been denied bail _twice_."

"Of course he has, no one's spoken for his changes!"

Lillia silently looked to her as if she thought this was a _good idea_. No. No, a _murderer_ does not _go free_ after he decided to _end someone's life_. "No."

Rod looked aghast, "What do you mean 'no'? You didn't even _ask_."

"A, you lied to me about why we were coming here. I thought we were just _visiting,_ not setting up a plot to possibly get him _out_. B, he tried to kill _their only sister_. Jill is their _holy grail_ and this _idiot_ tried to kill her. We would not be having this conversation but visiting his _grave_ if he had because they would have murdered him without remorse or question. And they sure as _hell_ wouldn't be asking for remorse because they would know they belong here. So C? He _belongs here_ and don't _ever_ ask me to visit again."

She stomped out in an absolute fury, turning her phone off because she knew they'd call. Some gossiping hussy in town once told her she married into a messed up family. Apparently they cast a blind eye to her maiden family then.

Sitting on the couch, taking a strong sip of red wine, she slowly shook her head. Koji was standing in the doorway, glaring incredulously. He'd asked what went wrong, not what happened because he knew it could only go wrong but wanted to be supportive. And she told him because she needed to share the insanity.

"You know, Popuri, I've always thought your dad was cracked but I _really_ think it now" Koji snarled.

"I dunno what I'd do in their place, Koji" she murmured, closing her eyes.

Koji sat beside her quietly. He was balancing it in his head, what he'd do. She knew when he snorted that he came up with the same conclusion she had. "If- _if_ I raised that sort of child to be guilty of this, I'd let him rot in jail and admonish myself for the rest of my life. I'm not going to allow the monster I raised back on the street when the person he took from this world doesn't have that same option. He took a life and he gets to lose his. Equivalent exchange, I believe?"

She nodded grimly, "…Good behavior."

"Yea, well, he should have practiced that prior to it being forced on him in a prison" Koji said sarcastically, hugging her to his side. "I'm sorry that it was such a sordid thing, baby. Let me take you to dinner and I'll run you a bubble bath when we get back?"

She just wanted to hide in her sanctum for a couple days to forget about this. Wrapping her arms around her husband's chest, she nodded. "Okay. Take me somewhere with some frilly drinks and good dessert."

He smiled and kissed her temple, "You got it."

Rick would stay in prison because she knew not one person in her extended family would speak a kind word of him. He meant to kill someone and he had, it just didn't end up being his target. No, he…he wouldn't get a kind word from them.

He was planted where he was supposed to be.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hattori Azuma groaned as he went into the elevator, almost collapsing against the wall in exhaustion once the doors closed. Well, this was crazy.

About two months ago, he got the open position for a pulmonologist and it probably should have raised some flags that they suggested he could start immediately. His predecessor must have fled in horror.

Once upon a time, perhaps back during World War II, this would have made sense. He was thinking he'd be treating mostly asthma and the likes. And he was but what he wasn't expecting was so many occupational injuries from _working in mines_.

Jilliana explained that they were probably sitting on millions of pieces worth of jewels and gems. She cited her uncle would go to an upper mine sometimes and get ore and the likes but rarely traveled downward. It was _those people_ that did take the risk that were in his office with lung issues. Apparently there were all sorts of gases hovering around. Not to mention he was treating all sorts of scrapes as apparently the ground could give out in spots or something _insane_. They should need a permit!

He straightened up professionally when the door opened and a couple doctors entered. Well, he was going to eat dinner then go home and that sounded like positive bliss. And it was nirvana too because his girlfriend text him to ask when he was ending his shift because she was going home too.

The good thing about his specialty is he had… _hours_. He was not going to be there until 5 in the morning every day of the week or just be called in for no reason. Jilliana got called in at all times of the night and worked graveyard shifts at least three to four times a week. While he knew that was going to be a thing, he hardly got to see her and when she had days off, she was resting _as she should_. Nope, she had the next couple of days off, starting now, and he was making her relax. Maybe he'd take her to a spa or something because she deserved some coddling.

"Any luck with Izumi?"

Eh? Azuma looked up, confused, pretty sure he'd never even talked to either of them since he'd been here. Sure, he saw them in passing but how would they know? Alas, the ruddy haired one snorted, shaking his head, "Of course not."

"C'mon, Megumi, you usually would've had them on all fours by now. At least twice."

Oh really? Eyes narrowing, his eyes rolled toward 'Megumi' who just looked peeved. "She's playing hard to get unless she's a lesbian or something. Shouldn't matter either way."

"She is pretty hot, I wouldn't be surprised if she has a boyfriend."

Yea, you assholes were standing in an elevator with him. Azuma's eye twitched, silently listening to the two of them remark on portions of Jilliana's body and what they'd do to each part, wondering how the hell this was such a long elevator ride.

Thankfully the end of the line came without him busting one of them in the eye. Megumi. He'd tell Jilliana about this prick and advise her to look out for him. Sounded like she was already picking up on his intentions if she was playing 'hard to get'.

…Or maybe she was avoiding Megumi for him?

"Izumi!"

His head shot up from his thoughts when he heard the bastard's voice call out his girlfriend's surname. Megumi's goon chuckled lowly as they both approached her. Oh, hell no. Jilliana was standing in the lobby, waiting for him, wearing a pretty salmon colored dress that cut off a little above her knees. He was going to take her to dinner since they both agreed neither felt like cooking. His eyes narrowed when she looked slightly perturbed, seeing the guys.

"Hello, Megumi-san, Urumo-san."

"We're about to go out for a drink with some of the others. It's not Monday so you shouldn't have your family thing" Megumi pressed.

"Um, well, no…"

Nope, there would be _no night_ that would happen. Azuma smiled some as he purposefully strode _between_ them. "Hey Jilli, we don't want to be late for dinner. You know how crowded Tenshiya gets."

She smiled as he came over and _she_ kissed him. "Hi, Azu. Don't worry, Steiner saved us a table."

Somehow he didn't even have to turn to look at the other two, pretty much _smelling_ their surprise. Jilliana hugged his arm, turning back to the wretches, "Have you met the new doctor in pulmonology, Megumi-san, Urumo-san?"

"Uh, no…" Megumi squirmed.

"We went to medical school together. He's just getting back from abroad" Jilliana gushed.

While Azuma was flattered as she proclaimed some of his accolades, he was honestly more pleased they both looked so awkward. Megumi cleared his throat after a moment and smiled quickly, "W-Well, that's cool. N-Nice to meet you, Hattori."

Azuma nodded at them, tilting his head to the hospital doors, "Well, you guys have a good night. We should be going now."

"Yes, good night" Jilliana smiled.

Taking a deep breath when they left, a little irritated that was so…tame, he shook his head. "Jilliana, I was on the elevator and those pricks were talking very…sexually about you."

"I figured as much. We're not even in the same department but he's always had some weird fixation with me."

Azuma leered at that, Jilliana climbing into the passenger seat of the new car he just got. He had kind of wanted to bring his car from Malaysia when he left but the shipping and whatnot just didn't seem reasonable. He had been reluctant to invest in one here, especially given that he hadn't had a permanent residence. Jilliana rectified that by inviting him to live with her.

It…was all kind of fast. He was okay with it because when they were in college they had spent a lot of time with each other and, had he not left, he probably would have suggested it anyway. Just, to go from such a fickle relationship to living together and being addressed as a boyfriend? Sometimes it was overwhelming but sometimes it was just…perfect. It had been growing for a long time, hadn't it?

Jilliana was flipping through her phone, smiling at messages and pictures she got from mostly her family, as they headed toward the ferry station. He was half-tempted to suggest they just go to a restaurant here so they could just go straight home and snuggle. Alas, having tasted the food at her cousin-in-law's establishment, he was pretty hooked and almost everyone else far paled in comparison…

"We can stay in Hondo tonight, Azu. Maybe we can do some shopping in the morning and come back home to get some chores done" Jilliana suggested, looking out into the early evening sky from the window.

Azuma scowled, "Well, I _wanted_ to make you take a break. You're gonna run yourself into the ground at this rate."

Jilliana waved a hand as if it were inconsequential and rubbed his knee. "It'd be different though, a change of venue."

Raising a brow at her caressing hand briefly, he cleared his throat as he pulled into the gate so they could be ferried across the island. "Yes…change of venue."

Two months. Everything was so perfect he couldn't even believe he began to deserve this. He frowned when he heard a crackle overhead. Huh…thunder this early in the Spring? Jilliana stretched, seeming to be lulled into a nap by the waves, leaving him alone to be crazy and speculate a storm was coming.

Azuma shuddered when they were on the other side and resumed driving through the busy city. No rain came but that didn't mean anything, right?

"Hattori-san, Jilliana, hey!"

Yagami Miru was sitting at the host stand of Tenshiya when they arrived. Tsumaru was bewildered by Jilliana's family, this sea of some very strange hair and eye colors. When he first met Miru here, he was very…baffled. He had pink hair _and_ red eyes. Jilliana introduced him as her cousin which…okay, he wasn't sure he would attach them. Not to mention the kid was like fifteen? _"Steiner is his brother-in-law and Miru has worked as his host server for a while."_

God, all of their family seemed so responsible. At fifteen, he was to be _studying,_ no ifs, ands, or buts. Technically he didn't think anything was wrong with that mantra but Miru was apparently like number 2 in his class whilst working. Azuma was like…five with all of his efforts going into it, good grief.

"Hi, Miru-chan!" Jilliana greeted.

"Hello, Yagami-san."

Miru stood, people bustling all around as he held menus, directing them toward a small room. It was apparently the VIP area where Steiner would occasionally close off for special events. Otherwise it was just like any other area of the restaurant and it was good they called Steiner early because it was already packed at 6:30.

Seating them in a nice corner with candlelight, Miru smiled as he handed them the menu. "Steiner recommends the Pinot Noir tonight."

"Sounds good" Jilliana smiled as well, "Put me down for a glass."

Azuma nodded to confirm he would partake in a glass of wine as well, especially after this hellacious week. He flipped through the menu, just amazed how sophisticated this felt. "You're going to make me a gentleman yet, Jilli."

"You're silly" she laughed, setting her menu down, "I was thinking while I was napping that a little relaxation would be nice. Maybe we can go to a hotel with a spa for a night."

"Sounds perfect" he agreed, stroking her hand.

When his mother was away and he was 'allowed', or, 'partook upon himself', to watch television, the dates looked something like this. The fancy dinner, the plans to go to a hotel…he flustered, shaking his head. Maybe she just wanted to briefly fondle his thigh, it didn't have to mean anything.

After a dinner of lobster and gratin with a dessert of a chocolate soufflé, he could tell his lovely lady was ready to sleep. Quickly searching for a nice hotel with an attached salon and spa, he found a perfect fit not too far away.

Jilliana sipped on something as they were driving in a little bottle. It was kind of strange since they'd both just eaten and he was unaware she was on any medication. Pulling into the hotel, he grabbed the bags they kept in the car for changing at the hospital which made this venture easier. Checking into a nice suite on the top floor, reminding himself they were paying for service and convenience, Azuma smiled, a bit confused, as Jilliana hugged his waist when they entered the empty elevator. She seemed to have pepped up for some reason…

Arriving at their room at the end of the hall, Azuma set their suitcase on the bed and stretched. He couldn't wait to sleep, his bones were starting to hurt and that just was impossibly weird to him. He wasn't _that_ old. Jilliana grabbed her bag and smiled, going toward the bathroom. "I'll be right out."

He nodded and shuffled through his bag for his toothbrush. While he waited for Jilliana, he looked at his phone and checked the weather. Not…one thing about thunder or lightning or anything of that sort. Had he been hearing things?

Jilliana came out, shooing him to go brush his teeth quickly. He guessed she was ready for some shut eye too. Cliff, who was becoming a little more comfortable with him, advised that Jilliana was the type to work herself into the ground if she were allowed. Azuma felt he had _somewhat_ gotten her to slow down but she was definitely a whirlwind of activity.

Taking of his slacks and shirt, folding them and then washing his face before brushing his teeth, Azuma meandered out and expected to see his dear girlfriend conked out in bed. Well…she was _in bed_ , just…wearing a sheer black negligee. He stared at her, wide-eyed and a bit speechless, as she smiled. "I was thinking we can do a little…relaxing before we go to sleep."

Azuma swallowed and walked closer, feeling like he was in a trance. "W-well, I-I wouldn't mind that so much, I-I don't think, but-"

She tugged him closer by the band of his boxer briefs and he guessed another storm was churning as his mind traveled from sleep to sexy time at ease. Sitting up on her knees, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him teasingly, nipping at his lower lip. Breathing out faintly, he ran his fingers through her hair, resting his free hand on her hip. This…was still more than he deserved.

Easing her onto her back, he dipped his tongue between her lips and rubbed her thighs. She reached down to stroke him, nice and slow, and…

Their relationship was good. It was just so breezy and harmless that it was laughable to him that there was this looming threat somewhere in the distance that may emerge like a storm. Part of him just wanted to write it off the paranoia but part of him just _knew_. It drove him crazy because this was _perfect_. Well, not _perfect_ , but this was the most solid commitment he could ever fathom. Just knowing that his own mother was perfectly capable of ruining every solid _inch_ of this just made him ill.

Jilliana had the sultriest voice when she came, her body trembling underneath him as she clenched his shoulders hard. His damn mother was such a distraction he wasn't even sure how he got that far into them doing it where Jilliana came in the first place! Groaning, he dropped his head against her shoulder and shook it miserably. This…was a mess.

"Azu? What's the matter?" Jilliana panted, flushed, as she looked toward him.

"A-Absolutely nothing, Jilli" he shuddered, "J-Just that we probably s-should still use condoms."

Her nose wrinkled and he almost laughed. It was odd, being they were both doctors and Jilliana was specifically working in one of the areas where unprotected sex was a bit of a factor, that they were a little against condoms. Not the benefits, heavens no, but she had that implant which was almost foolproof at this point. He…couldn't imagine what his mother would think if Jilliana had his child.

…He would think it was absolutely perfect.

Pulling out, sticky with sweat, he watched Jilliana fall asleep before dozing off himself. No. No more of this. He was so busy chastising Jilliana about relaxing he was overlooking the fact he hadn't been able to relax for months now. It was time to stop running. He'd…he'd call his mother tomorrow and tell her everything and that she could do nothing about it. He'd tell her he was in love with her mortal enemy's daughter and that, should they both consent, he wanted to stay with her. Maybe they'd have a long-term future, maybe they'd have children, and maybe she was simply everything that made his spirit complete.

He could already feel the winds brewing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"A certain level of _maturity_ comes with going to college, Takeru. A certain level of _discipline._ You are not portraying either to me."

Izumi Jill gnawed the end of a pen as she sat in her living room, looking back at her husband and son as they started to bicker for possibly the millionth time about him going to college. Cliff was starting to get _more_ adamant that Takeru wasn't prepared for the responsibility while Takeru was only getting hotheaded. Truthfully, that was entirely unlike her youngest child so she knew he was serious about this. Just…now might not be a great time.

It was an odd commonality in the eighties and nineties but people that had taken another person's life _could_ get out of jail eventually. Later in the nineties, Jill supposed someone said 'that's insane' and usually a life sentence was always proposed. That's what she was used to _now_. Last week, Yamachi Rick was given parole. To say her older brothers were livid was an appalling understatement. Shin didn't express it quite as vividly as, say, Koji or Nelly, but it didn't sound like any of them were averse to killing him.

Popuri was horrified and confused. "How did this _happen_? I turned down even suggesting it to your brother!"

Jill's brother's father-in-law gushed that someone very relevant to the case used their vast knowledge and declared forgiveness for Rick's crimes. _Who_? Who would _possibly_ have done such a thing to sway a judge?

Hattori Azuma, the pure image of the slain, said coolly, " _My mother._ "

Mentally, Jill actually formulated the word 'pause'. Pause. Hattori Rinko wrote her death threats for almost twenty years over the loss of her brother. Jill felt she was to blame even though somewhere deep in herself she knew it wasn't logical. Just she thought often what could she have done differently or why couldn't she have left Tsumaru alone. Rinko pretty much had her tagged as the gunman that pulled the trigger. And apparently so as she just gave testimony to allow the actual gunman out of prison.

What could the court _actually_ say? Rick was the model prisoner for over twenty years now, they couldn't cite any grievance from his time there on why he shouldn't be let free. Then, the tip of the iceberg? The victim's only surviving blood relative speaks for him. The sister! She wrote Jill death threats for almost _twenty years_ because her brother was dead and she gave testimony for his _killer_?

To say the least, she was terrified.

" _I do believe in forgiveness"_ Shin had muttered, _"Just, had someone taken one of your lives and needed me to sing their good graces, I simply could not. And I don't think a woman like this could do so either. Not without something else in mind."_

Azuma had come over with Jilliana after all this happened, quietly digesting the information. Jill had been wary of him, naturally. Strangely though, she did feel this overwhelmingly dark animosity he had for his and his mother's relationship. Azuma was born after what happened to Tsumaru so apparently not one inch of his life had never been without this cloud looming above him. He told them silently that he had called his mother and informed her who he was with.

'Why?' did come to mind. Just it would have been a weird thing to ask because it was his mother. Maybe he thought she could…handle the information? _"I'm sorry, ma'am, it was a mistake. I…I am happy so I guessed I hoped she'd be happy for me."_

And any mother should. Instead, she…got the murderer of her brother out of jail. _Why_?

Looking to her youngest son, she sighed heavily. They told Takeru that now was just _not_ a good time. They explained it perfectly, she thought, that there were concerns that preceded his right now but they could revisit it soon. He was…upset. _"Our family's issues happen all the time! What's different this time?!"_

That was the problem, they didn't _know_! Takeru looked irritated, huffing as he stalked toward the door. He was mostly _likely_ going to either a friend's house or Sharron's. The young woman was something like the love of Takeru's young life and she was usually pretty levelheaded. Maybe she could talk some sense into him…

Cliff stroked his long dirty blond hair back, seeming aggravated as well. "…I'm now leaning a hundred percent toward 'no'. He's got too much growing to do."

Jill felt grim. "Does he have too much growing to do or is this like the thousandth time family drama got in the way?"

Her husband grimaced. Maybe…just maybe, Rick would go lead a secluded life elsewhere once he got himself on his feet. Perhaps he'd be okay and honor the restraining order to stay away from her. Maybe, just _perhaps_ , this was not shaping out to be a bad thing.

…Maybe. Just…why?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" _You've gone completely insane. I ought to disown you."_

Hattori Azuma numbly finished some annotations to his medical records for the day to give more clarification. To be honest, he was in such a haze he questioned the details himself. The clouds were dark.

He had been sitting on the couch in the home he shared with Jilliana, the former insisting on cooking them a nice healthy fresh dinner the Saturday they got back from the hotel excursion. He'd made her go to the spa and pamper herself and got them a nice lunch at a restaurant overlooking a river. She got the chicken, he got the seabass.

When they finally came back to the house and he was given the opening, he sat down and he called Hattori Rinko. He told her he met Izumi Jilliana in college, tried to avoid her, but ultimately he found he'd fallen head over heels in love with her. He didn't inform the woman of _where_ they lived but that he was now living with her and everything was perfect. His sanity came to question in his mother's actually pretty mild response.

" _You've raised me to hate them, mother. And I did. But…I can't live that way and I hope you can decide not to either."_

 _"Don't tell me how to live. Apparently it won't work for either of us."_

Truthfully, he had no room for argument there. Maybe…advise though? _"I just want you to find something positive to focus on, mother. Not this."_

 _"Something positive, huh?" she said coolly._

Yea, he guessed that 'something' was getting the one that killed his uncle in the first place out of jail.

'Mind boggling' failed to describe anything about the situation. For all he knew, she was practicing forgiveness and giving this man a second chance. That was positive! Just entirely _unlikely._ Jilliana's family was terrified and they probably should be.

Closing the computer, he stood and headed out to the neonatal wing. Her family was surrounding her mother. Tsumaru's mother had made no qualms about who she wanted to see suffer and it was definitely Izumi Jill. It made sense…if they weren't dealing with Hattori Rinko. His mother knew that it'd be too obvious to target Jill. In fact, she had sent enough incriminating evidence in those death threat letters alone that it'd be such an open and shut case should something happen to her it'd be ridiculous. No, he figured when he heard about all the wild incidents in their family, they were usually dealing with a common villain. His mother was not that.

As of right now, knowing her psychotic tendencies, the only person that made sense? Jilliana.

Hurting Jilliana would mean hurting Jill's oldest child and, in turn, taking out the one that had 'coerced' her only son to their side. Jilliana had seemed shocked by the suggestion. _"But…why?"_

He was going to give a long spiel on the autonomy of 'why' but Jilliana apparently knew the answer immediately after voicing the question. This was the same woman that buried in him the belief that her entire family was evil and that Jill was completely to blame then gave enough testimony for the courts to approve bail on the actual murderer. 'Why' did not matter because reason was not afoot.

However, Jilliana did not adjust her schedule or anything to try to avoid public places or anything. _"I have things to do, I can't put my life on hold for her."_

No…she shouldn't. And he couldn't expect her to just sit around, waiting. Azuma miserably walked toward the station where Jilliana was standing, typing something. He…he had already done that to her, hadn't he? He'd…he'd done all of this.

"Hey, Jilli…?"

The blonde looked up at him and smiled. It made him weak because in the face of his mother's mysterious tactics, this woman smiled at him regardless. His mother. His mother…always ruined everything.

"Hi, Azu. Are you ready to go home? Let me finish up the notes for the next doc."

"Um…okay. We need to talk though."

She frowned some before closing the computer, waving him to probably where her locker was. He followed weakly, all the life sucked out of him. Not here. Maybe…outside. When they got to the elevator, she yawned and stretched. "How about we order Chinese for dinner tonight, Azu? I'm too tired to cook."

He stared down at his feet before looking up at her. "…I think we should break up, Jilliana."

Dramas made this activity out to be the most chaotic event to ever happen. Lots of tears, lots of questions, lots of panic. Jilliana looked…unperturbed. "Why?"

"Why? Because this situation wouldn't have fallen on your family if it weren't for me, Jilliana! I-I brought this attention to you all! My mother stopped writing letters and everything but now because my stupid ass told her, you're all being threatened again and we're just sitting around, waiting for her to strike! You're…you've _always_ been better off without me. I knew that from the very beginning and I-I thought just…just finding myself would be enough but it's not. It's…it's just not."

He looked up her to see her expression. It hadn't changed. "Do you love me?"

"What? Of-Of course I love you, Jilliana. But be practical! That's not _enough_ if you're going to get hurt! It's going to hurt me more because I put you in this position!" Azuma protested.

"Azu" she said flatly, "You told me. You told me when we graduated about how your mother aligned in my family and the drama she's caused. You told me and I was reluctant because I didn't know your intentions. You've made your intentions clear and I trust you again. And your mother has been very clear about her intentions all along. I still made the decision that I wanted to be with you."

His eyes widened as she wandered to hug his waist, resting her ear against his chest, "Your mother's hatred would have come to a head one way or another, with or without you. You have nothing to do with any of the actions she takes. And, no offense because I know you're trying to be heroic, but I doubt you leaving me all of a sudden would make my family less of a target."

…Shit. "That's…that's true" he whispered. And hell, how was he supposed to protect her if they broke up? He…he kept thinking he was the problem in her life and him disappearing would fix everything for her. No, these…these clouds were in motion with or without him.

"Will you ride this out with me?" she said softly, looking up at him.

"…Of course, baby. Just wish we didn't have to, this…this wasn't either of our waves to begin with" he muttered.

She smiled softly and kissed him, parting when the doors opened to let them out. Fine. Fine, if the hurricane was going to come, he was going to batter down. He reached out and held her hand tightly as they walked toward her car. If…if something happened to her in the midst of this, he'd lose it. He'd have lost pretty much everything in his life.

"Azuma, I know you and some of my family are concerned but I really don't think she's coming after me" Jilliana replied, buckling her seatbelt.

He'd honest to God just checked to see if the car had anything resembling a bomb before letting them get in and she still thought that? He scowled, looking to her, "Look, it'd have to be _someone_. Maybe your dad? Carrie? Your mom?"

"I don't know…" she murmured, "And why Rick? If he's gotten out, what can she give him to make him go commit the same crime he committed in the first place?"

That was true. Unless he was truly a dumb criminal? This was a fresh start for him so maybe he wasn't a component of this madness.

Thing was, everything was a component to her madness, wasn't it? This…this puzzle didn't have fitting pieces. Someone was going to get blown away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yagami Koji stared off as he stood outside on the island away from Mineral. He wanted a cigarette but knew that was the last thing poor Lillia needed hovering around. She didn't need her son hovering around either, as far as he was concerned, but here they were.

Rod called and basically told his wife that her brother had been allowed release in a week with that 'no thanks to you' tone. Like anyone _wanted_ Rick released except Rod and most likely Lillia. She was his mother so of course she probably wanted him to have a second chance to redeem himself. Koji could respect that to some degree, he believed in second chances. Just…not in regard to the one that almost killed his only sister.

He clenched his fists, his eyes narrowing as he leaned against the fence. Jill had to watch a man die due to all this. Someone she cared about too. They didn't do her any favors, him, Nelly, Shin, by protecting her from darkness for such long periods of her life but be damned if he wanted her experiences to have something that morbid. Above all, as selfish as it was, that son of a bitch tried to kill _his baby sister_. Yes, Jill was a mom now and he felt that maybe his protective tendencies started to shift more to his children and his nieces and nephews but, well…she was the original. Some places in his mind got shadowy thinking about it, as if some spots were missing, but he'd been protective of his sister since she was born. And maybe she was a big bad adult now but there was no way in Hell this was going to happen again.

"Koji dear?"

Looking up, he smiled some when his and Shin's mother-in-law appeared, carrying bags. He started toward them, reaching out to take the bags, "Hello, Lillia, Okamoto-san."

He couldn't help but grin some as Okamoto Lillian scruffled his hair, "I swear, I know I wasn't around you boys as much but I've known you since you were children and you still call me 'Okamoto-san'."

"Of course, Lillian."

They exchanged some quick pleasantries before Lillian took her leave, waving at them and advising Lillia she'd be back by in a few weeks. Siblings…were this strange entity, he imagined. While Popuri could have been present way more in his life earlier had Lillia and Lillian been on good terms, they seemed to come back around and were the best of friends. Popuri didn't even want to come with him as she might see Rick. _"There's…there's nothing left, Kochi._ "

She told him when they were doing the prison visit, had it not gone south, she still probably wouldn't have gone back. His wife asked what do you talk about when one of you has been locked in the same place, told when to eat, when to sleep, and how to live, for the last twenty or so years?

Koji didn't have anything like that. If he went twenty _days_ without seeing one of his siblings, that was a problem. Tony, Shaun, yea, maybe, they weren't as nearby as the others but he got a damn phone call from them. Popuri and Rick hadn't talked in any degree since the murder.

Wracking his brain for even a slight similarity to give his wife an answer, literally the only thing he could think of was how he talked to Shin when he came back from his first tour of duty in the army, after he got stranded and was one of three people out of his entire unit to survive, after he had to take people's lives. Thing was? He…just talked to Shin. Shin _still_ had issues because of all that but they talked about it. That's all he could do. Popuri fell quiet and shook her head.

" _I get that, Koji. But Shin was overseas looking for a refugee prison camp to help people and came out with understandable scars. My brother killed someone and placed himself in this situation. I…don't think we can talk about his 'issues'. He started them."_

Maybe so. But there was a reason he did this and it could start there if she actually wanted the relationship. She didn't which was fair. Except…maybe someone should have just have talked to Rick to begin with. Maybe, and most likely, it wouldn't have solved anything. Maybe, when he considered it, having an absent father and a sick mother didn't give Rick many venues for healthy conversations. Maybe any of this could have been avoided. And then maybe Koji wouldn't be here ready to threaten his brother-in-law's life. Just…just maybe.

"I know why you're here, Koji. I promise to keep a close eye on him."

Koji looked up, startled, by Lillia's soft voice. She was looking off, kneading her hands. Popuri said her mom blamed herself. Had she been a stronger parent, Rick wouldn't have come to this. There was no telling at this point.

"…How has he been?"

"Oh, quiet. He feeds the chickens sometimes and he'll come eat with us. I think he's just not used to it anymore but…but I think with time, he may be okay" Lillia nodded.

Yea…maybe. "That's good, Lillia. I guess you figured I was here to make some…mild threats, huh?"

The woman actually smiled, "I assumed. I know how crazy you are about your sister. Just…I will keep an eye on him, I swear."

…Mm. "I want you to stay out of his way if a situation gets out of hand, kaa-san. I will, at your request, forgo any bodily warnings today" he said faintly.

"Thank you, Koji."

"However…you advise your son that should anything befall anyone in my family, this is it. We have unfinished business and, even if it's not _me,_ one of us will wrap it up if he gives a reason."

Lillia seemed surprised…but actually nodded. "I understand."

He walked her to the door, setting her bags in the corridor before taking his leave. He wanted to avoid seeing either of the Yamachi men now. Picking up his phone, he gave each suspected target a call. Jill and Jilliana since the girl was dating Dr. Ishikawa's nephew. Cliff, eh, maybe? He was there. Popuri suggested something pretty funny.

" _Maybe…since Ishikawa-san was her brother, she'll come for one of you."_

If that crazy bitch sent Rick after any _one_ of them, it wouldn't even be a problem anymore, she'd have done them a damn favor. Popuri still was concerned.

Nah, that'd be best case scenario. It'd really _have_ to be Jill for any of this to be symbolic. And he'd been an overprotective older brother his whole life so, should that occur, there was going to be war.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nonsense.

Yagami Elli wished. WISHED that somehow there was a hotline to the afterlife so that that stupid man could talk sense to his stupid sister!

Irritated as she walked back from the small urgent care clinic, what once used to be Ishikawa's practice and the only medical building in Mineral Town, Elli picked up some flowers to take to his grave. She didn't do it very often, just when she thought about something like when they had to run to the mine to treat Gotz for inhalation or treating a scrape on Aja. She missed him but…well, her life had turned out very well, hadn't it? She'd…moved on.

Elli stopped, seeing a black haired woman standing before the grave. Others hadn't.

"…Rinko."

The woman turned to her, looking to her absently. When Ishikawa first came here and for a couple years during Elli's tenure as his nurse, Rinko came every other day. She was a very serious woman and spent most of her time trying to convince her brother to go to the big practice he deserved. Sometimes Elli knew that he questioned if he was doing enough in this small town but most of the time he'd deny his sister's suggestions, stating he was at home here. Rinko…was never thrilled about that. At some point, when Rinko started seeing someone, she and Tsumaru stopped speaking. Tsumaru said they just had different paths in life. Elli…wasn't certain when the last time the two talked but she was certain it wasn't before he died.

Satoru, or, 'Stu' was her half-brother by whatever standards were in place to describe such relationships. He was younger than her by something like twenty years. It was an odd inclusion by that point but she thought he was the cutest thing. Naturally, being pretty much an adult by the time he was born, she didn't see him very often as a baby. When their parents died, she helped raise him where she could but their Grandma Ellen came and took up the mantle. When their Grandma Ellen passed, he was sixteen and requested that he be allowed to study abroad. Much like Jill was with Takeru, she was hyper reluctant but allowed it. Thrilled, he went off to Hong Kong and pretty much never looked back. He had a business out there, a software company, and he often invited her to come meet his girlfriend. She…hadn't physically seen him in quite a few years but the bond was there. If…if something had happened to him like it'd happened to Tsumaru…

"Well, if it isn't the woman that _failed_ to marry my brother."

Elli's eyes narrowed. She still would never be as jaded as Hattori Rinko. "I think at some point you need to accept that your brother never loved me. Of course, having heard about the way you've 'loved' people, you might be surprised to learn you can't make people love you."

Hattori Azuma was physically Tsumaru's clone. Jilliana, in what had to be some version of irony, brought him to dinner night recently. All the normal 'girl brings boy home' shenanigans fell to the wayside because of just the amazement. He was a nice young man, also a doctor, and he was damaged.

It wasn't hard to tell that his mother had done a number on him. He told them small stories as an introduction and it sounded like he'd been forced into medical school and forced to forego all other interests to meet that goal. His mother made her son a facsimile of what she lost and that was…that was disgusting. As a mother, she just…didn't understand.

Rinko turned to her, her eyes dark. But then, maybe Rinko never even saw Azuma as her son but a chance to start over with Tsumaru. Another Tsumaru since the one she had a falling out with was gone forever... It…it was too late for that.

"You could have made him love you. But just rather strangely you _also_ got on with this Yagami family. You replaced Tsumaru. And you claimed you loved him."

Somehow, Elli had to scoff, "Again, _Rinko_ , your brother did not _love me_. Maybe he could have _learned_ but I didn't want to suffer such a feeling. And, you know, I was prepared to mourn for all eternity for your brother but, yes, I 'got on with' my husband and it's been an absolute blessing."

"You never loved him, that's why. Nothing is a blessing if you lost the person you loved" Rinko snarled.

"That's a pathetic way of living" Elli replied briskly.

Rinko stared at her before turning back to the grave. "We'll see about that in the end, Elli."

…Popuri called her, Lyla, Karen, and Ann on a video chat yesterday. She was terrified that perhaps it wasn't Jill but Jill's brothers Rinko may target. That was poetic justice, after all. Elli wasn't into that sort of poetry. Dropping the flowers, she stalked right up to the woman. Rinko turned to her, leering as they came almost toe to toe.

"You listen carefully: if you think about harming a hair on my husband's or any of his brother's heads, I am swearing on your brother's grave below us, I will make sure you're never a problem for _anyone_ again."

"How passionate. I miss that."

Elli glared hotly as the woman looked to the sky, closing her eyes. "…I was going to wait. My son's phone call to me about how he's found 'the love of his life' in a little she-devil made me change my plans. I think they'll know my suffering."

What? Rinko kneeled before her brother, pressing her hands together, "Just you wait, little brother. You'll be avenged."

With that, the woman stood and left without another word. Elli stared after her before coming to the grave, staring at his name and the dates from oh so long ago now.

…She wished there was a hotline to the afterlife so he could tell her what his crazy ass sister was about to pull.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" _You can have a new life. Start over from this place. I can't but you can have that opportunity. You just need to do one thing for me and I can get you out of here with enough money and a new identity. You just have to do one thing."_

Aunt Popuri sent a text in all caps: 'MY BROTHER IS MISSING AND HE HAS MY DAD'S GUN!'.

Really? Just…didn't he know they were suspicious of him? What would make him do something like that? Jilliana hectically looked over her shoulder, glancing to her phone to see if Carrie had responded yet that she was okay. She had. She and Hayato were at home. Azuma had also received the text, off today, and told her she needed to come home as well.

Biting her lip, Jilliana did her rounds, checking on the soon-to-be mothers as she always did. Her uncles were on it, she was sure. They were probably looking for Rick. Aunt Popuri's father insisted that the gun was only to protect the chickens from wildlife and maybe Rick had seen something. What dissolved the man's faith was Lillia wasn't stirring. When he went to wake her, he found a residue in her cup of tea that he'd expressed Rick had started to bring her lately. He'd slipped his mother something. This was not a misunderstanding.

Just…who? Her mother? It'd just…it'd just be _too obvious_. Maybe Tsumaru's mother didn't care about going to jail or whatnot though. Just…Rinko wanted people to suffer and, frankly, she'd be candidate number one in that category if something happened to Izumi Jill. There wasn't anyone in her mama's family who wouldn't immediately go postal.

So…her? She was dating the woman's son and was the daughter of Jill. It made a little more sense, just…well, it'd hurt her mother and her family but it seemed a little expected as well to kill the girlfriend of her son. It wasn't…calculated enough or something. The brothers? It would seem like a suicide mission to go after Jilliana's uncles though. Maybe Rick could take out _one_ but then the other three to four would murder him instantaneously.

Aunt Elli had advised she had a run in with Rinko at Ishikawa Tsumaru's grave. She told them the crazed woman said something like she 'thinks they'll know her suffering'. They who? The whole family? Yes, that was the case, but…

'They'. Her for dating Azu, her mother for 'causing' Tsumaru's death. Rinko's suffering, in her mind, was losing her brother and to some degree her son…

…Wait.

Jilliana froze.

" _Takeru_!"

The nurses around her looked alarmed as she quickly told them she had to go. Running out of the hospital in a panic, she blindly dialed his cell phone number. Breathing hard as she pressed it to her ear, she could have collapsed when it just kept ringing and ringing. He was mad because all of this going on was getting in the way of his college endeavors. So, either he was ignoring her or he was…

No. No, just let him be ignoring her. Maybe he was at home. But no, it was Saturday so even if he wasn't pissed at the world he wouldn't be home. Where would he be? Almost dropping the device several times as she looked at the GPS, she found his dot was in the middle of town. Maybe…maybe as long as he stayed in crowded places…

Coming to the shopping district, she stopped and caught her breath. It wasn't as crowded as usual but there were enough people that ought to have made committing a crime here ridiculous. All the same, she had to get him to a safe place. "Takeru!"

She called him again, finding she was unable to locate him. At last, he picked up, "What is it, Jilliana?"

"Takeru, sweetie, where are you? I have to get to you quickly, okay?"

"So you can take me back home? Nah, I'll pass" he said irritably.

No! "Takeru, this is _not_ a game right now! You are in danger, baby, I have to get you somewhere safe!"

"What are you talking about? Is this more of this BS with that Rick guy or whatever? What the hell do _I_ have to do with any of that?"

Nothing. Absolutely and completely nothing which was why he was the target. Rinko said her brother was a hapless victim and that's what Takeru was going to become. Jilliana let out of a breath of relief when she saw his back, a phone pressed to his ear. Oh, thank goodness! Putting the phone down, pretty much just going to ambush him and force him home, her whole body stopped when a figure in a black hoodie appeared out of an alley from behind.

No.

Without another thought, she darted right at the man and, just as he was removing his hand from his pocket, elbowed him _hard_ in the side of the face.

"Stop it!" she screeched, grabbing his arm.

God knows for a fleeting second she thought, what if I'm attacking some random person? However, a gun was very tightly gripped in his hand as he tried to fight her off. No, this…this was him, trying to kill _her little brother_.

Everyone in the square was gasping and taking pictures, screaming for someone to get the cops. Yes, please. Takeru looked horrified. "N-Nee-san!?"

He had a ski mask on, covering everything but his eyes and mouth. That was because he'd be recognized immediately and that…

Finally, he shoved her forward and, while she'd never heard Yamachi Rick's voice a day in her life, he said, enraged, "You look just like your bitch of a mother."

Her thoughts were on Takeru even when he pulled the gun and shot her in the stomach.

" _Nee-san!"_

Crumpling to her knees, the pandemonium in the square taking on new levels as people ran and yelled, Jilliana could barely get out 'Takeru, run'. Run. He…he was the target.

"Y-You fucking bastard!"

Jilliana gripped the gaping hole in her belly, falling to her side, watching helplessly as Takeru… did about the craziest tackle she'd ever featured by pretty much diving and clotheslining Rick in the neck. Huh…Carrie did say he was a savage. She was only semi-relieved when the shock of the impact forced the gun out of Rick's hands. He…he could still hurt Takeru…

The man had spent years in prison and it showed, he also threw Takeru effortlessly down on the ground near her. It looked like he'd gotten the gun but people that hadn't ran off to safety started screaming too and throwing fruit and whatever they could find toward Rick. Jilliana could only watch as the man cursed loudly before darting off back down the alley, getting away. He…he failed…

"Jilli! Jilli, are you ok-okay? Hold on, th-the ambulance is coming!"

She dazedly looked to Takeru who was by her side, a scratch on his cheek. She weakly reached up to touch it, whispering, "A-Are you okay…?"

"Nee-san, you-you've been _shot_ , don't even think about me!" Takeru choked, "J-Just hold on!"

Jilliana smiled some. To be honest, she kind of knew this wasn't as serious as it could be. It felt like it might have damaged some of her internal organs but she…was most likely just…getting weak due to blood loss…

She heard the ambulance as she succumbed, smiling grimly as she closed her eyes, listening to Takeru's screaming before they became simply whispers. Too bad, Hattori Rinko. Jilliana had accomplished what that bitter harpy wish she had:

She saved her brother.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

What the _living fuck?_

Azuma was pacing circles around the waiting room floor, almost pulling his hair out. This went exactly how he _didn't_ imagine it.

He'd actually been going to Jill and Cliff's home in the town square when he heard the horrified declarations that 'Jilliana was shot!'. Then, he thought 'it happened'. He knew she was the target. Except, she wasn't.

When he got to the hospital, Takeru was in tears and shambles. "S-She told me I was in danger a-and she protected me and I-I'm such an idiot!"

Takeru? What the hell? _Takeru_. He couldn't have been further removed from what happened to Azuma's Uncle! Jilliana made more sense even though none of it did! Izumi Jill hugged Takeru tightly before muttering, "…I took her brother and Jilliana took her son."

But _what_? Two birds, one stone, he guessed? This was pure and absolute _idiocy_. But yea, he was _not_ looking at Takeru, that was for sure. And when the other relatives arrived, they were startled before saying 'well, no, Takeru was not the focus'. If Jilliana hadn't figured it out, the kid would be _dead_. What the _hell_ did that even accomplish?

Jilliana…would be okay, the doctors informed. Just she'd lost a lot of blood and she needed a transfusion. He quickly volunteered. He…he had to fix this. He swallowed as some of her relatives did give him questioning looks. Just…he didn't know if he could this time.

Yagami Koji had his arms crossed, looking to his wife who had her face buried in her hands. "…Po, it is not your fault, baby."

" _Twice_ , Koji. Twice! This time he actually hurt someone in our family!"

"Which blaming yourself still doesn't make sense by any means. Why don't you call your dad and check on your mom? See if the drugs wore off."

Popuri shook her head to the negative for a moment. After a few minutes though, she glumly stood and excused herself. That bastard drugged his own mother to get out of the house and took his dad's gun. He was apparently covered head to toe and wearing gloves. His…his dad could have potentially been pinned, he supposed? If he'd…stuck around for a while, his dad could have been the one framed. Lunacy.

The doctors emerged and told them she'd finally woken up, that they could see her now. Tsumaru held back as everyone rushed into the room. Two blond men continued to sit, however. He knew one of them was Yagami Yamada but the other one…he'd been giving him the most looks.

"You don't want to go in, Hattori-san?" questioned Yagami Yamada, his arms crossed.

"I'm…I'm just the boyfriend. I'm not as important." 

Yagami Yamada's brows furrowed at this and the other blond looked at him poignantly. "Look, kid, I'm only going to ask you once: did you have _anything_ to do with this?"

Eh? Yamada nodded, "This is Izumi Craig, Jilliana's other grandfather."

"O-Oh, nice to meet you." Great, grandpas.

"So?"

"…This seemed to have been instigated by my calling and telling my mother I was in love with your granddaughter, sir, so I guess I did have something to do with this" he whispered.

Craig made a face. "Kid, I meant did you _plot_ this with her? Apparently a lot of mothers have issues with their sons getting into a long-term relationship. If that's your 'something', join the club."

"N-No sir! I swear, I didn't know what she was planning! It-it doesn't even make sense! I-I do believe though that…that my declaration to her was the catalyst. I-I could have kept it to myself."

"Oh, you poor sweet naïve child" Craig said gravely. "I'm almost seventy years old and my mother knows all my business. She probably already _knew_ about your girlfriend."

…Eh? The gears started turning in Azuma's head. Yea, when…when he spoke to her, she said 'I _ought_ to disown you'. That didn't mean much in terms of language but it meant something in the way his mother said it. If she hadn't have known, that conversation would have been entirely different, more volatile. Disowning _would_ have occurred. So…so why _now_?

"Well, I think people know things, Hattori-san. They can sense them or they find about them through word of mouth but when you confirm it, it takes on a life of its own" Yamada explained, "You putting it out to her meant it was solidified."

He guessed…there were ways for her to know. She had a lot of people that knew her so if they saw him anywhere, they could have informed her. Just…something was off, he just couldn't put his finger on it. An informant, maybe?

"…I should leave" he whispered.

"Hattori-san, I know for a fact that you mean something to my granddaughter. And if she means anything to you, you will not leave and you'll take your spot in that hospital room because you want it. I know this place of 'not being as important' that you're coming from…but that's not the case" Yamada said softly.

…Oh. Biting his lip, he quickly turned without another thought because the truth was, he…he wanted to be there.

When he came into the room, everyone was pretty quiet considering. Jilliana was pale, her lips almost white as she looked toward him…and still smiled. "There you are."

"Jilli…"

He sat on the edge of the bed and held her cool hand, her eyes heavy. She rubbed his thumb with hers, weakly pulling his hand to kiss his knuckles. "You've been beating yourself up, I'm sure. Just we've all come to the conclusion this was coming one way or another. Your…your mom planned this long before you came into the picture."

What? Her Uncle Koji sighed, crossing his arms, "The letters stopped around the time Takeru was born. I guessed she couldn't target one of us as Jill's brothers because there's like fifty of us and, well, we do have a bit of a reputation…"

Eh? Nelly nodded slowly, "So she was going to aim toward Takeru just to take away Jill's only son like Tsumaru was her only brother. I guess it's just kind of ironic Jill's daughter is with her only child and son."

…But… "…She had no idea that Takeru would be born though. What was her plan up until then?"

Carrie somehow looked droll, sitting on the side opposite her sister, Takeru pretty much lying miserably in bed with Jilliana. "Dunno, dude, she's _your_ mom: you tell us."

"Carrie" Jilliana scowled.

No…she was right. Jill had been whispering with Cliff before shaking her head, "All that doesn't matter now. It may have been that she was just waiting to hurt one of the girls but then Takeru sidetracked her until he was older."

Likely. And what was likely was they couldn't sit here and think about it much longer. Shin, Jilliana's police officer uncle, blinked at him languidly. "Would your mother meet back up with Rick? As is, I can arrest her as an accessory but Rick has violated probation within little over a week. I need to get him back behind bars."

"It wouldn't be smart but she's not being that right now anyway" he murmured, looking to his phone. It looked like she was at some area behind that clinic where his uncle used to work…

Weird. "Is…is there anything behind the old clinic in town?"

Everyone frowned and Elli looked thoughtful, "…It was kind of like the maintenance shed for the lawnmower and everything. The doctor used to do his own lawn work. I don't know if the clinic is doing anything with it now."

"She's there. Before…before you arrest her, I'd like to finally talk to her" Azuma requested softly.

Jilliana gripped his hand and he patted hers, reaching out to stroke her brow, "Get some rest, Jilli. You've had a long day and…I think it's about time we wrapped up this nightmare."

Shin was calling in the brigade as he headed out, feeling the eyes of his girlfriend's relatives. They were probably still wondering about him and if he were trustworthy. Jilliana had just been worried before giving him a smile, asking that he come back, safe and sound. She trusted him. After his mother got the killer of her brother to almost murder her only baby brother and instead shot her. That…that was a lot to live up to.

He just wasn't going to run or conform this time. He…he wanted to be here. And she was finished taking that from him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" _Who the hell are you?"_

 _Hattori Rinko had to wait to be allowed clearance to see Yamachi Rick. There was protocol and dates and times she had to wait for to be able to see him. Finally, she'd been granted sufficient clearance and was now sitting across from him. He had voiced the poignant question, probably not expecting this perfect stranger. She stared back evenly._

" _My name is Hattori Rinko. You killed my brother."_

 _He seemed somewhat surprised. It was something she thought about long and hard, to whom she'd want to exact her vengeance. She could have hired a hitman but after her talk with Yagami Shin, she did some research. Needless to say, she was certain they'd be busted before the ink dried on her contract with his network. Even here was of some question but she'd forego sneakiness for poetic justice for this matter._

 _Rick sat back, staring at her, before drawling, "Is there…something you need to say to me?"_

 _"Say? No. Do? Yes."_

 _"Well, I won't be too much use to you there as I am serving a lifetime sentence as long as no one speaks for me."_

 _Rinko waved a hand, "I'll deal with that. Once you get out, I need you to do something for me. Once it's complete, you can have a new life. Start over from this place. I can't but you can have that opportunity. You just need to do one thing for me and I can get you out of here with enough money and a new identity. You just have to do one thing."_

 _"Which is..?"_

 _"Help me remove Izumi Takeru."_

 _She looked at that tramp's brothers. It was fitting, especially for the youngest one, Shaun. Just it wouldn't work, from what she could tell. Yes, she could ambush them and make one of them suffer, certainly, but they were an ornery bunch. They'd all lived through a great deal without issue and people like that don't go down easily._

 _She looked at 'Cliff', her brother's supposed 'friend' and the husband. It would hurt and she could make it look like an accident. Just Cliff had been involved. He'd caused this as well and she wanted him to suffer too. Death would be too easy._

 _The two daughters would have sufficed but it felt random. Very random, actually, but they'd do. Just she wasn't in any rush to kill two children at the time. When she heard about the birth of their only son though? It sounded much more fitting. Their only son for her only brother._

 _Azuma was born out of a brokenness she couldn't fathom. She was weak and needed a facsimile of Tsumaru to keep her going. What she got was this poor substitute that had desires her brother never would and did things Tsumaru had been above. Alas, when he called and told her he'd fallen in love with that woman's daughter, she could finally see some commonality. She'd make that bitch suffer too for repeating history._

 _Rick didn't seem stricken that she wanted him to kill someone. "Who the hell is that?"_

 _"That is Izumi Jill's youngest child."_

 _"Oh. Well, I can get with that" he said lowly._

" _So you agree to the terms then?"_

 _Rick snorted loudly, pushing the bridge of his glasses back up, "I don't know how you figure to do all this. But yea, if you can somehow get me out of here, I'll take care of the brat. Gladly. You just keep your end of the bargain."_

 _She had no intention of doing so. The bastard pulled the trigger and killed her brother. He'd be properly framed and placed back in prison for going for revenge, killing the son of his intended victim from all those years ago. She would cite ignorance and declare how on Earth she could have possibly thought he'd do such a thing. They might have letters and hearsay but they had no proof she put him up to this._

 _This was all she had left._

And he'd _failed_.

Hattori Rinko gritted her teeth and stared at Yamachi Rick who looked aggravated. "You _failed_."

"Look, I shot _one_ of their kids. Doesn't that count for something?" he rolled his eyes.

"I _wanted_ the son!"

She was boiling. One _teenage boy_. She got word from some people she had posted around that he was walking the streets, in and out of dark _alleys_. He was an _easy target_! Even when the daughter showed up, he was an _easy target_! How hard was it overpower one woman!?

The _worst part_? That little bitch _protected her brother_! This wasn't poetic justice, it was a slap in the face! How perfect it would have been if 'Jilliana' got to watch the life seep out of her brother's body. Instead? She got to do the one thing Rinko hadn't been able to do! She would have taken a thousand bullets for Tsumaru but she wasn't even _talking to him_ at that time. Izumi Jilliana took that bullet for her brother. This bastard _failed_.

"The deal is _off_."

"Figured that" Rick said at ease. "I stole some of my parent's stuff, I'll be able to make it off the island and can probably get another identity without you."

Rinko gritted her teeth, "So a poor finisher _and_ a poor son."

Strangely, Rick smiled and folded his arms. "Y'know, my dad went away when I was around eleven years old. Said he was off to 'find a cure' for my mom's illness. I never told my little sister but I found out when I was about thirteen that he'd actually started a new family. Figured mom wasn't strong enough to handle the truth and Popuri was just a kid at the time. I held the lie together for them."

He got closer and she backed away, growing a little uneasy as his eyes closed some, "It's tough in a small town to keep things quiet though. And it was hard having to be the man of the house. I had a girlfriend, sure, but she was a wild slut, I never knew who she was going to do it with next. In fact, she married that bitch's _twin brother_. Just a slap in the face, y'know? It wouldn't have worked either way though, I could have never controlled her. I didn't have much control in my life."

What—"So here comes this pretty rich blonde with an attitude just asking for someone to take the reigns. Just like my girlfriend, she was sleeping around. The black guy, Cliff—your brother. She was like a succubus or something, man, seducing a _doctor_. She used to ride him almost through the floor, y'know?"

Rinko's eyes widened, gaping a little. "Y-You-"

"Oh, and he liked it too. Hope that doesn't hurt your sister complex you have going. Having the hots for a sibling can go like that."

She screamed, slapping him hard across the face, "How dare you?!"

His cold hand wrapped around her arm and his smile turned wicked, "But then, even big sister goes spreading her legs for another man when it suits her. You didn't want him though, did ya? Maybe your look a like son would do. Of course, just like little brother, he grows up to hate you too. Yea, I heard from my mom: your son? He hates you and wants nothing to do with you, just like Tsumaru. And then he goes and gets himself the daughter of the same blonde slut that stole your precious brother from you. You just lost control too, didn't ya?"

Trembling, she stared at him. He was going to kill her. "You know why my dad came back to this family though after all that time? The other wife left him and took the kid too. He had nothing left so he came back to take what he could get: his shitty other family. But it was just too late. And that's what you failed to realize, _Rinko_ : you let things go to _shit_ with your brother and now he's dead. And you cling to the idea that killing some random ass teenager that means nothing to you will really change anything. There won't be any satisfaction now because the fucker is _dead_ and has been dead for _thirty years_. But you fucked up that relationship. Then you fucked up your relationship with your husband and your only child for a _dead man_ and have the idea you can gain control by killing _nobodies_. But it's just _too late now_. You lost control and now you're going to lose everything." 

…No…

Rick reacted instantly by cocking his pistol when the door opened to the small shed. She shakily looked back and stared in horror. Azuma was standing there, wearing his doctor's coat with his hands up and a solemn look on his face. "Hey, I'm not here to try anything."

"Azuma-" she rasped.

"Then you walked into the wrong place, bastard" Rick snorted.

Her son slowly shook his head, approaching them but coming to a stop when Rick flexed his hand more, threatening. "I'm not here to try anything but I'm going to let you know that you are surrounded by the police at every corner and apparently a very skilled sniper from my girlfriend's uncle's team. You try anything funny, this isn't going to end very well for you."

"Does it ever?" Rick snarled, holding the gun at them while rounding to the window.

Azuma rushed to her and looked her over, "Are you all right, mom?"

"I-I'm fine" she whispered.

"Mom…you have _royally_ screwed up this time. Not slightly but _royally_. You're going to prison for this. Was it…was it even worth it?"

Rinko shivered, watching Rick as he peeked out at his impending doom. "I just wanted another chance. I wanted to tell Tsumaru I'm sorry and that I did love him, I just—I just didn't know how to say it."

"But how does that translate into _anything_ you did, mom? How does making my life hell translate into saying how much you loved your brother? How does killing someone's son—a direct _slap in the face_ to Uncle and my profession!—translate into _love_? Why, mom? Why didn't you just start over?"

"…Because it's too late" she murmured, feeling steel in her chest, "It's too late."

"Mom, I went to Malaysia because I needed to find myself. You made me feel it was too late too, like I-I was just a failed facsimile to some man you loved more than me and I had to find myself. I had to find out I-I could make my own decisions, that I could be with who I want, _be_ who I want—I had to start _completely over_ from what you set me up with but I _did_. It's-it's not too late. It was never not too late."

… "What…what if he died thinking I didn't love him? That's—that's why it's _too late_!" she screamed, backing away.

Everyone was right. She could have that entire family murdered but at the end of the day, it would amount to nothing but meaningless bloodshed. She would never know if Ishikawa Tsumaru knew that no matter what disagreements they had, what fallouts, that she loved him. She let it end like he was a no one to her, she couldn't even remember their last conversation—it was _too late_.

"I can't go back."

Azuma looked up, startled from her outburst to the one across the room. Rick was tremoring as well, hissing, "I-I won't go back to jail. I _can't_. Not again. I can't."

Rinko stared emptily as Rick once again pointed the gun at her. "I…I won't go. It's…it's too late. It's too late for either of us."

He pulled the trigger in what she imagined was about to be a murder suicide but she couldn't care anymore. It was too late here. Maybe…maybe in the off chance there was something beyond the grave she could tell him there. She could let him know. That may have been the only way.

"No-"

Jolting, she opened her eyes when wetness hit her face. It didn't hurt like she expected, at least.

Azuma collapsed to the floor.

…Wait, what? "…Azuma?" 

"You have a very selfless family, _Rinko_. You must be defective" Rick said snidely.

She stared down at the crumpled body before her, nothing quite registering. What happened? Why? When? Dropping to her knees, she choked, staring at the spreading red spot on his back as he didn't move. " _Azuma_."

"Look at that, Rinko: someone else that probably didn't think you loved them when they died."

Gagging, Rinko turned him over. His eyes were closed and he was so…so still. She slapped Azuma's cheeks, screaming through strangled breaths. _"Azuma!_ Azuma, _you listen to me_ , you _wake up_! Wake up, damn you! I-I don't care who you're with or-or what you play or what you do, just wa-wake up!"

This…this time it was _only_ her. She started this. This…this bastard killed her only brother and now her only son? And she…she did it this time.

She screamed when two gunshots shattered the window and Rick howled. Rinko watched in wide-eyed horror as his legs essentially crumbled beneath him. What—

The door opened and Yagami Shin appeared, his eyes covered by sunglasses which made it all the more menacing. Rick writhed and screamed on the floor as Shin approached. "Y-You _son of a bitch_! Why didn't you just kill me?!"

"It occurred to me" Shin said in a disturbingly calm tone, sliding Rick's gun away with his shoe. "You've tried to kill my only little sister, have shot my niece, and now have shot her boyfriend within the same day when she called and pleaded I keep him safe. I could have told my partner to snipe you right through the chest…but you're my wife's cousin and my sister-in-law's brother. Family dinners needn't be anymore awkward with me having had you killed. And it sounds like you wanted me to so I made the right call."

The man walked over to them and knelt beside Azuma. Pressing his fingers to Azuma's neck, Shin frowned. He pressed a button on his phone, looking around, "Location is secure. We need an ambulance, two injured. One will require an armored vehicle and to be under surveillance."

'10-4' echoed over the other side and Rinko held Azuma's hand, whispering, "I-I just need to see that he's okay. Anything after that, you-you can take me away."

"That's asking a lot" Shin said dryly, "You orchestrated all this so I may as well call you the mastermind. Azuma hasn't painted a very pretty picture of you either."

… "I don't suppose he should have."

The man that came years ago when she was busy threatening his only sister and told her even then it wouldn't end well stared. She'd go sit in jail and hear her son died. Because she…she couldn't let go. She couldn't see it was too late and all she did was raise another person to not know she…she did care about him.

"I'll let you sit with him until he wakes up. I'm not a doctor but I don't think this hit was lethal. He probably is just in shock."

What? Rinko bit her lip as emergency techs rushed in with two stretchers, one with two handcuffs to pick up that lunatic and another for Azuma. To her surprise, Azuma did stir a little weakly when they moved him, his dark eyes rolling around before he closed them again. Perhaps…

Perhaps she could have hope that, this once, it wasn't too late.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _Azuma drearily stared into a dream. He could tell it was a dream for the sky was purple and gray. He felt warm and damp, like he was in a shallow bath. Weakly turning his head, he found he was on a beach and someone was sitting with their back to him._

 _He swallowed when the stranger only slightly glanced over his shoulder. He didn't have spiritual beliefs but he had a strange feeling that this was his uncle. After a moment, the man looked back to the waves and said softly, "In the shed, look on the shelf."_

 _"What…?" Azuma whispered, feeling like a feather in a breeze._

" _It's a letter. For Rinko."_

 _A letter? "And…let Jill know I'd be honored to be in her story if she'll have me."_

 _…Eh? His ghostly uncle stared up and said deeply as he started to blow away just like the sand. "And I'm sorry you had to face all this. She knows how to love. I'm sorry."_

Did she now? Did she understand that her love wasn't the only one that mattered, especially plotting to kill someone's child? She certainly hadn't when raising him, when she was more engulfed in telling him he was a terrible copy of this man instead of what he was able to accomplish. Everything pointed toward her being without even the core concept of caring whatsoever.

Azuma felt agitated as he opened his eyes. It didn't seem to be because of the 'ghost's' proclamation but that he was really struggling to wake up. Above him was a bright light and there was a weight on his chest. Great, he had died and there _was_ an afterlife. He just hoped the guidelines weren't too stringent to get in on the less torturous side…

Turning his head, Azuma was almost frozen to find his mother asleep against his chest and holding his hand. What…

Who even was this? Panicking, he jerked his hand away, alarmed. He had no memories of holding her hand, not even once. She jumped as well, startled awake by the motion and looking around rapidly. Why was she even here? Why hadn't Shin put her in jail where she belonged?

"Oh. Oh, Azuma, t-thank God" she said faintly.

For what? Him? "The-the doctors said the bullet just missed your heart but you-you lost a lot of blood. But that doesn't matter. How do you feel?"

Why would you start caring _now_? "…Confused."

"Do…do you remember what happened?"

"I took a bullet for you" he snarled, "I took a bullet because you and another madman wanted 'revenge' for something that was his fault in the first place."

His mother had gray eyes. He hadn't honest to God noticed because she never stared him directly in the face like this. She appeared solemn like she hadn't caused all of this. Finally, she murmured, "Why?"

Why? "That's what I'd like to know! Why-why did you do all this-"

"No. Why did you jump in front of me, knowing damn well you could have _died_?"

His eyes widened as she actually started to cry, burying her face in her hands. Who even _was this_? What did she care if he died? He never measured up _anyway_ and she was ready to disown him not even a month ago! Azuma wanted to escape, a fear buried in his chest because he didn't understand this situation before him, but he was too weak. Help. Someone help.

Why though? Why _did he_? Why would he jump in front of this person that made him feel like he was merely a doppelganger? This person that made him have to start completely slam over at thirty years old. Why did he?

…Damn it. "Because…for whatever reason- psychological, self-deprecating, _insane_ —whatever reason, I do love you, mom. And I didn't want to see you die."

Mommy dearest. He could have been snatched out of this life for someone that never cared who he was or who he could have been. Now he felt tears rolling down his face too. What an idiot.

"…I guess you and Tsumaru had more in common than I wanted to recognize."

Azuma scowled at that as she dabbed at her eyes. "Nn. Rick said you were both selfless and I didn't seem to get that trait. I…I guess I have a lot to learn about myself too."

Frowning, Azuma watched as she stood up and opened the door, "…He's awake. I'm ready."

What? Yagami Shin walked in, his face registering relief, "Good to have you back."

"T-Thanks."

The older man glanced at his mother absently, her back to Azuma just like her brother's had been. "Hattori Rinko, you're under arrest as an accessory to attempted murder and aggravated assault."

For some reason, the man didn't cuff her but she went perfectly willingly. Maybe…maybe she was finally ready to own up to the facts for penance. Maybe…maybe it wasn't too late for her. And…and maybe she did…

…Maybe.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _Popuri could feel the depth of nothingness in her chest as she entered the room after requesting to do so from Yagami Shin. He advised he didn't feel it was a good idea but she had to. He'd…he'd had the opportunity to grow but he didn't. He'd had his roots completely removed._

 _There were officers in the room on either side of the door, armed like her brother was capable of anything now. Shin admitted, ashamed, that they had shot his legs from under him and he hadn't thought the damage was that extensive, that he honestly, no matter who it was, never wanted to see someone crippled on his watch again. Popuri assured Rick had done that long before any of this._

 _He was pale as he stared at the ceiling, the blankets dipping abnormally over where limbs once were. She stood at the end and looked at him, this…pathetic human being._

" _You could have started over. You could have gotten out on whatever that woman said and ignored her and started your life over. Now you're not only going back to jail for probably ever this time but you lost your legs. Why?"_

 _Rick didn't look to her at all. There was nothing left. Balling her fists, she started to walk away like she should have a long time ago. "Popuri."_

 _She glowered at him as he closed his eyes, his wide-framed glasses missing from his face. "Hoshimiya Stephanie. Look her up when you get a chance. I figure you can handle it now."_

 _What? Popuri stared at him as he apparently went to sleep like all of this chaos he caused never happened. Hoshimiya Stephanie?_

Izumi Jill wearily went to her daughter's room in the hospital. It'd…it'd been a long week.

When she thought about Ishikawa Tsumaru, she remembered how calm he was. He tried to wrangle the chaos and he helped everyone that he could up until the very end. A place in her chest grew hot when she felt all this madness surrounding his name. From his sister, no less.

Azuma took the bullet for Rinko. Her son. Just like she was going to make Jill lose her son and Jilliana lose her brother, Rinko was almost about to lose her son just like she had her brother. The universe often had a twisted sense of humor but it was all painfully aligned to perfection, as far as Jill was concerned. Luckily, Azuma did not suffer the fate of his uncle and, surprisingly? Rinko apparently was being very cooperative with the authorities after turning herself in. Maybe…maybe she finally realized the truth after all this time: no one wanted Tsumaru to lose his life and Jill would have never asked for the man to give his for her. Rinko watched first hand that some people took it upon themselves. Just…in a way, Jill got that that wasn't actually any easier.

Smiling when she got to her destination, she found Takeru and Carrie huddled around Jilliana. Her oldest daughter was briefly in hysterics when they informed her that Azuma had been shot. They assured her that he was just fine and that once he was to at least ninety percent, he was going to be able to come see her. Jill wasn't surprised when she heard her daughter snuck off in the night to see him recently, much to the chagrin of her doctors. She would have done the same in a heartbeat.

"Hello, you all."

Takeru looked up, his blue eyes tired. She noticed he had been very quiet and withdrawn since the assault. It wasn't like him at all. Koji reminded her he literally just watched his sister get shot to protect _him_ from getting shot. _"You might want to get him to talk to someone."_

Perhaps so. She…she didn't want him scarred too.

Carrie looked peeved, her brows furrowed. Ah, Jill's hotheaded offspring. "Mom, Takeru said he doesn't want to go to school now."

Eh? Takeru made a face and absently shrugged. What was this? "What's made you change your mind, sweetie?"

"…What you said all along: I'm not mature enough yet. I can't even listen when it's crucial so how can I expect myself to manage even the little things? I…I can wait."

Jilliana pouted, stroking his hair, "That's not true, sweetie. The incident, it sounded absurd, that was all."

"But it was coming from my family" he murmured, "I know we do some crazy things but we've…we've never played around about one of us being hurt. I knew that much and I ignored it."

While hesitant to make any serious decisions without her husband, Cliff had been a _little_ more on board with the idea. "Sweetie, we…we just want to keep you closer a little longer. But we also know this is the perfect opportunity and none of us are blind to that. So, your father and I discussed letting you go, if you're still interested, at sixteen. That's a little less than two years to show us your dedication and that you're ready for this. And time to know if you've matured to your own standards as well as ours. Deal?"

Takeru opened up his mouth to respond but Carrie gave him a look. "Take that deal, itoto. Jilliana nor I want you getting sidetracked because someone else decided to hurt our family. But mama is right. It may be hard to know at sixteen but you'll know."

Her baby didn't seem so sure but the whole thing was too fresh. To be honest, she expected him to be back to himself in maybe two weeks or so. She still wanted him to talk to someone but…well, her son was very resilient, she found. All of her children were.

"Mama, did you get to check on Azu?" Jilliana murmured after they convinced Takeru to be open to the new idea.

"I did, sweetie" Jill assured, "He's probably going to be here longer than you are if they want to discharge you in two days. They're concerned about where the bullet hit him."

Jilliana frowned deeply and Carrie shook her head, "Honestly, I started to lean toward him being involved in all this even though I made that speech about him being an idiot if that were the case. Just I can't imagine he'd take a _bullet_ for a plan…"

"Not at all. The guilty ones here are Rick and his mother" Jilliana replied.

Taking a seat on a rolling stool, Jill was reminded by the mention of Rick to check her phone. She'd gotten a message from Popuri about something. The woman had seemed out of sorts lately and Koji remarked she was being a little secretive. About…what though? _"Rick managed to tell her something that's got her thinking. Can't imagine what the hell that is."_

Jill couldn't either. The man that tried to kill her, killed the doctor, and now had shot her daughter and her boyfriend? What could he possibly say that Popuri didn't disregard immediately?

…It'd been a long week.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

So he knew.

Yagami Popuri sat on the fence of her maiden family's farm. The original, where this all started. They still owned it for whatever reason, just renting it out to another chicken farmer. Their name was Murata. He had a wife and two kids. The wife's maiden name was Hoshimiya. Popuri had heard the woman speaking in a store once about Hoshimiya Stephanie being her niece and a popular announcer for idol shows. Popuri didn't register it because it didn't matter, just banter with Sasha and Anna. A simple Google search after Rick's comment got the best of her curiosity and it became far more than gossip.

Hoshimiya Stephanie was, per her idol affiliation page, forty-years-old. Popuri was around eleven when she was born. Popuri's father left when she was around nine. So what of it? This…random pink-haired woman.

Stephanie's mother wasn't an idol or celebrity involved but she had enough online for Popuri to get all the information she needed. She was a divorcee per her Facebook account, currently married to an anthropologist. In a conversation, her prior married name came up. Yamachi.

That didn't mean anything though. Yamachi wasn't that uncommon a name. So she checked public records.

Yamachi Rod was her spouse in 1992. Popuri was around ten.

She gazed off into the distance, the sky as blue and as clear as everything unfolding around her. Her father never left to find a cure. He left them entirely.

It was such a neat and clean thing now. She wondered how it was Yagami Yamada treated her mother so easily. Her father went out like he was searching for some elusive cure-all plant that would will their mother's disease away when there were fucking doctors an hour from here. Why didn't her mother ever question it? Had she known?

To think. To think he'd run off with some bullshit excuse when he had no intention of coming back. He started over. He had a new wife and he even had a child. He married another woman when he had his sick wife and two children back here, thinking he'd return. The divorce record cited 'adultery'. Adultery. As in, the woman must have found out her father had another wife and two children. That was in 2004. Popuri was around 22 and having her first child.

He came back to Mineral because his second chance failed. And Rick knew before that.

Burying her face in her hands, she quivered. A part of her said it would have been fine had he just ended it. Yes, maybe divorce may have destroyed them but then they'd have known. They'd have known they were on their own instead of getting mad and disenchanted that their patriarch was gone so long.

Rick knew. He knew their father had left to start over. He knew they had a father that never called or even wrote a fucking letter to them not because he was deep in his journey but because he was okay. He was okay and having his new life with his new family. Rick knew that he was supposed to manage the house as the oldest. Not because their father died or anything, just because he decided he was going to start over somewhere else without them.

Popuri would never be able to forgive her brother or even right the wrongs he'd done. He just shot her niece for no reason. He could have started over instead. Just.

Just…had Popuri known this in her youth, had she known she wasn't even an afterthought to the person that fathered her but a backup plan, there was absolutely no telling where she'd be. Distrustful. Hateful. Apathetic. Manipulative because of these things. Basically _Rick_. Their father returned to them because his other option failed.

Taking a deep breath, she wiped her eyes and folded her hands together. She would never be able to forgive Rick but she'd be lying to herself if she said, for everything he did, that keeping that bit of information from her was probably the best thing he ever did. He just told her because he figured she could handle it now. That meant he had had this information prior. He probably had it prior to everything he did and he didn't tell her. There was absolutely no reason not to tell them aside from trying to protect something, either their father's image or them.

In…in all honesty? Rick…Rick stuck around for a reason. If he knew, he…he had no reason to run a chicken farm. He could have left and been just fine. He stayed and snapped.

That man came and treated her son like he was garbage. He was a 'mistake' because Koji and she hadn't planned him. He told her Kaede was making the 'same mistakes' with Steiner that Popuri had made. He came and told her children they were mistakes and exited stage left. Popuri…let a man that left her like a mistake treat her children the exact same way.

Her hands wouldn't stop shaking. No…Rick killed a person and just tried to kill someone in her family. He kept this all inside himself and she would never forgive or excuse him but if he felt this then perhaps she may have a good grasp on 'why' now.

What the hell was she supposed to do now?

A light melody echoed from her pocket and she idly retrieved it, staring at the number. For once, she was possessed not to answer. Pressing the green button, she pressed the phone to her ear and murmured, "Hi, Kochi."

"Hey, baby. Where ya' at? I came home early to check on Jilliana and wanted to take you to dinner."

She couldn't even begin to be hungry. Or go home with her face puffy and red. Yagami Koji came with guns blazing if anything even put a frown on her face. Her…her Prince Charming, she smiled miserably. He always seemed snide about her father's 'journey' because, for as fantastical as he could be, Koji was so blunt and pragmatic that he probably fathomed this possibility long before she confirmed it was true. He…he was right to treat her father the way he did.

"Baby? Are you there?"

"Oh, sorry, Kochi. I, uh, I don't know how up to dinner I'm feeling right now, love."

Koji fell quiet and he probably knew something was wrong. Her soulmate. She probably would have turned him away as yet another lie in her life had she found out. It…it felt so sickening. Just…

"But, you know, we have been so preoccupied with everything happening. Maybe a night out will make me feel better."

Her husband drawled, "Yea, maybe. Are you okay? You don't sound like yourself, Popuri. Where are you?"

"I'm on my way home, I'm just up the street at the chicken ranch." The one her father rented to his ex-sister-in-law.

"Oh? What's there?"

"…Absolutely nothing. Just…feeling nostalgic."

"Yea, okay. I'm coming now."

Popuri pouted, pushing off the fence and starting up the road. "I'm a big girl, Koji. I can have a little time to myself, right?"

"W-Well, of course, I just…"

His voice was hesitant like he wasn't really sure what to say. It sounded more like something _he'd_ do and nothing she'd ever needed: just a spell of time to herself. She…she'd seldom asked to be totally alone.

Koji though. "I…I understand, baby. A lot has been going on right now with your brother and the family. I don't blame you for needing to escape this madness right now. Just…just know you don't have to pent anything up, okay? I'm always here to listen to you. But you also take as much time as you need. I love you."

Her husband struggled to give her time to herself because he knew she was hurting for some reason but needed space. He wanted to be there for her.

Her father left for no damn reason.

"I love you too, my Kochi. I'll be back in time for us to go to dinner, okay? Can you make us reservations at that Thai place on the mainland for six? I'm feeling a little spicy."

"I like it. I'll give them a call now. Be safe."

She agreed and clicked off, heading up the mountains to where they met all those years ago. Her mother was in shambles, thinking that she had let Rick down when he had drugged her to keep her from stopping him. He was an idiot through and through and he didn't care what happened to anyone around him now. Like father, like son.

Yamachi Rod had been appalled that Rick was potentially going to frame him for the murder he could have committed. Not that his son was beyond reform or that he was barely a week out of prison and ready to commit a crime. No, Rod was appalled because he was going to get in trouble.

Taking a deep breath, Popuri stretched her arms and inhaled the mountain air. If Rick could do it, so could she. She'd change their old house number and breathe not one essence of this to not one soul. Not Koji, not her mother, not anyone. Koji would support her but he believed in family and, even if he talked around it, he would agree that she should meet with her half-sister for some damn reason.

She didn't know a Hoshimiya Stephanie and she didn't know a Yamachi Rod. Her tree had been cut.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

End Notes:

So I would actually hope by this time in the future that Malaysia isn't racially biased on housing considering reports say they had put in place something to counteract it. I learned this from Quora though and many of its members lamenting the issue. I also learned about some of Japan and Malaysia's history there too…

It's probably different in Malaysian hospitals but my friend studied medicine in India and that predicament with the test strips sort of happened to her.

Elli's…indiscretion? It occurs probably a little after next chapter. See This Love, Lessons in Life, and Jewel in the Rough. She loves her Nelly though. 


	3. Sacrifice, Part III

**Sacrifice** , Part III

 **Notes:** SMUTTTTT.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So…if you don't mind me asking, where are you from?"

Hattori Azuma looked up, surprised. He had been sitting by himself in one of the many rooms in Yagami Koji's house, sipping a glass of red wine, when the newest inclusion appeared. Inaba Kurt was carrying a beer, appearing a little perplexed. He was built like he lifted bricks for a living which was apt as that's apparently what he did, having moved to Mineral some months ago to build houses with his grandfather and brother. His brown hair was pulled up into a spiky do, a blue headband around his head today. Having known Carrie for about a year now, Kurt was a little tamer than he would have ever expected her to go for for a boyfriend but he guessed she may have wanted and needed that.

One night maybe a month or two ago, Jilliana came home in tears. She told him that Carrie confessed that the years she was missing that she was strung out on drugs and ended up having Hayato during this excursion. He always knew Carrie was way too exciting. At the time, he smiled. _"But at least she felt comfortable enough to finally tell you, right? She didn't have to."_

He understood that people hated to hear things after the fact, especially when it was that bad, but he had to respect when people _finally_ talked. Even…her.

His mother confessed to being, essentially, the ringleader in the plot to murder Takeru. She didn't really have to, she didn't even pull the trigger, but she took ownership. The judge found her guilty as an accessory and first degree but had _some_ 'mercy'. She was sentenced to fifteen years. Rick? He got pretty much 'endless' until maybe someone else thought to speak on his behalf. It wasn't looking too good this time.

Azuma's father came to visit him in the hospital, alarmed to hear about everything that happened. " _I…I always knew your mother was a little…ambitious but not sinister."_

To be honest, Azuma wasn't sure how his mother was _ever_ married. " _Your mother was ambitious. She wanted to be Superwoman. She was Superwoman. Just Tsumaru's death ate at her. Until then? Your mother was great. I…I'm sorry you didn't get to see her at her best."_

Jilliana snuck over to his room when he was initially injured, demanding to know what even happened. _"…I just didn't want to see her hurt, Jilliana. At the end of the day, she's still my mother."_

 _"I…I understand, Azu. Just…"_

She was still his mother. And he went to see her in jail. They finally talked.

It was a bit of rehashing, how she raised Tsumaru and whatnot and their parents being away a lot. There was a little bit more this time, something with an abusive unrelated 'uncle' that watched over them and whatnot. 'Blumenthal'. Also a doctor, an English partner at their private family practice. _"He used to speak very poorly to Tsumaru and I. Called us names like 'muckbloods' and whatnot. I think he was racist but he needed your grandfather's clinic to maintain a job while he was here. His wife and son were nice though."_

" _I guess it made you feel like you needed to defend and punish people?"_

 _"…You know, probably so. I felt very defensive after all those years on-and-off with his 'patronage'. I wondered why my parents didn't just take us with them too but after a while I realized I just needed to protect myself."_

Fair enough. _"Mom…why'd you not take your maiden name back?"_

That was something that came up with his father's visit. He forgot that his mother's maiden name was Ishikawa. She was still a Hattori by all legal standards. His father frowned thoughtfully and shrugged. _"Maybe it was too much work_?"

His mother had _worked_ in the legal system, she probably could have gotten that expedited fairly quickly. When he asked, she'd made a sour face and tapped her fingers against the table. _"…I don't know, Azuma. Your father was my first love, maybe I just was feeling wistful about something aside from your uncle."_

" _You treated dad like garbage, mom. You telling him he was entirely worthless broke him."_

 _"Mankind has this terrible habit of turning back inadequacies of themselves on others, Azuma. It's not an excuse but it happens more than it should. As you know, being that I forced you to be a doctor to be like your uncle. Your father stuck by me for a long time and I'd be a fool not to recognize it. It stings but I'm…I'm glad he found a woman to respect him."_

… " _You've lost a lot, mother. Like, a lot. Now you've lost your freedom."_

Rinko shrugged. _"Honestly, I've spent your life stewing in rage. Half that time spent recovering and cooling off is probably a gift, frankly. I need to figure out where to go from here."_

He guessed…she got to start over and find herself too.

Azuma sipped his wine, waving Kurt to sit on the other end of the couch. Kurt was an easy read. He kept to himself and he wouldn't normally ask this question. He'd probably heard from Carrie and wondered what sort of person he was that brought this sort of drama to the family. Azuma was glad he was at a point where he figured that out.

"I'm from Kitakyushu" Azuma replied.

"No kidding? I'm from Fukuoka" Kurt said, surprised.

"Oh, so we were neighbors. What school did you go to?"

It'd been some time since all that now, since his mother tried to put a hole in this almost impenetrable family. Something was very funny about them, just the sheer energy. He had been having dinner with Jilliana's parents after the shooting and Jill mentioned with a groan how she had to delay her publishing. Azuma was reminded of his hallucination of his uncle and how he was advised to tell her the man wanted to be in her story. Which was insanity but he mentioned it. _"It was really odd but before I came out of my coma, I dreamed about I think my Uncle? In the dream, he said something about telling you he'd be honored to be in your story if you'd have him, Jill-san. I dunno why he'd be in a story though?"_

Jill and Cliff were entirely silent before Jill excused herself to another room. Great, he'd said something _stupid_. They made him feel welcome as can be but he internally felt he was on thin ice with the family as is. Cliff did give him a bit of a puzzled look. _"…Did you know she was arguing with herself over that? She's been writing about her experiences but didn't want to make your mother mad by including a character based on your Uncle."_

Azuma was confused too. He had had no living idea.He didn't know what Jilliana's mother even wrote about. How…?

A coincidence. That's all it was. It stood an equivalent chance of being pure nonsense when he told them about it, a 'what are you talking about?' moment. Jilliana didn't think so. _"Did he say anything else?"_

The letter. If he went to that shed and found a letter, he had literally had an encounter with a ghost and that did not bode well because he was practical and just not fantastical enough for that. He told Jilliana and she dragged him to the clinic and the old abandoned shed. Azuma walked in with confidence that this was going to be just a wild goose chase.

For whatever damn reason, there was a yellowed envelope wedged between a shelf with old rusted shears and boxes on it. Written in ink was 'Rinko' and he was freaked all the way out. Jilliana didn't seem bothered one bit. _'Stuff like this just happens around our family, Azu'._ Oh, she meant _magic_? They were _doctors_ , magic was supposed to be _off the table._

He…really, really had wanted to open it and read it. Maybe it was just an invoice, after all, or a will. Jilliana told him, like his mother literally didn't try to have her brother killed and ended up having her shot instead, that he should just give it to Rinko. Reluctantly, on another visit, he ended the visit by giving it to her. She'd been confused and he advised ' _from your brother'_. She…broke down into tears again. He hadn't been back to ask what the man wrote but when he called last, she seemed in very good spirits. Maybe…maybe, on top of it all, she had also found closure.

"Hayato is always talking about you and how you guys play soccer" Kurt said after some small talk, addressing his son and Jilliana's nephew.

"He's a good kid. It's been fun being around him. My childhood didn't look quite like his" Tsumaru smiled wistfully.

Kurt nodded in agreement. "I wonder if I'll be able to keep it going…Carrie's done so well without anyone but her family this long."

Shaking his head, Azuma set his empty bottle down, "Nah, I…I think when you can have both parents you should have both parents. As long as they're…decent."

"Guess that's what I worry about" Kurt chuckled some.

In some aspects, he did wonder if he was going to be a good… _anything_ after all this. Things…things were going so well with Jilliana, he was alarmed. They returned home after all this and went back to being doctors and boyfriend and girlfriend. They even took a vacation two months ago…the more time went by, the more he knew she…she was the most solid introduction to his life, the girl he was bred to hate.

"Azu! Do you want some cheesecake?" Jilliana peeked in.

"That sounds good, Jilli" he smiled, looking back at her.

She pouted at both he and Kurt, "Why are you two shacked up in here? Come socialize!"

He snickered, dusting his pants off, "We're just talking about you charming ladies and how lucky we are to have you, dear."

"Uh huh" she stuck out her tongue, "Well, you can do that out here."

Azuma laughed, standing, "Fine, fine…"

Kurt stood with a smile as well, stuffing his hands into his pockets as Jilliana left the room again. "…After everything, I'm hoping to start over again with her. It's a nice thought."

Yea. After everything? After having his mother raise him purely to hate and be someone else's clone, after her trying to kill people to right her own perceived wrongs, after just having to start over…

Being here with her was a nice thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It seemed ever so slightly fast: Carrie got married.

Izumi Jilliana smiled, walking around in the red maid-of-honor dress Carrie got her. She hadn't had maids but insisted that Jilliana _had_ to be there beside her. It made her teary. Somehow, even when they grew closer, she never imagined that sentiment from Carrie of all people.

Just…it was a little fast? When Carrie told their family about what she had _actually_ been caught up in for five years, she was…crushed. Carrie was _smarter_ than that. Drug use? Prostitution? There…there was _no reason_ she got that far. And then the father of Hayato was right there with her…?

Alas, Kurt was a fantastic addition to their brood. Shy and honest, hardworking and loving, Jilliana was just relieved it was this person and not the sort of wild and irresponsible person Carrie typically went for. Kurt wasn't 'up to no good'.

But…it'd just _almost_ been a year and they were getting married? Jilliana got that they'd been together for those five years but under the most undesirable of circumstances. They didn't know all the quirks of each other just yet or if they were ready for every storm. It just seemed a little fast.

However…

After a beautiful wedding, Carrie and Kurt were preparing to be swept off to their honeymoon. Jilliana was sleepy and ready to go to bed, Azuma also pretty dead on his feet. Being a doctor just based on the time they didn't spend sleeping kind of sucked. She looked up when Carrie smiled broadly and was suddenly holding her bouquet. Eh? "I'm throwing the bouquet!"

Oh. Jilliana's eyes widened as some of the women present squealed. Oh, she didn't have to be a part of that. Azuma wandered closer to her, smiling, "This was nice. This is the first wedding I've ever been to."

This startled Jilliana, having been to…many weddings in her lifetime. "You didn't go to your dad's?"

"Nah, mom wouldn't let me and they just had a small thing at the courthouse. I guess it would have been nice to see."

…Oh. Lifting her arms _merely_ to hug her poor Azu, a bouquet landed in her arms instead.

She gawked, wide-eyed and stunned. There was _no way_. Carrie had to have thrown it at her on purpose! Leering in Carrie's direction, she found her sister grinning and called to their dad. "Hey daddy, Jilli's next!"

Oh God, their dad had been in his feelings all day over Carrie getting married and he instantly blanched. Not _yet_! Azuma and her just got together…Azuma turned red and laughed shyly. Ugh, no pressure, that…that wasn't necessary.

Jilliana still held the flowers as the family gathered outside to see the happy couple off. Hayato waved happily at them, gushing that they 'have fun'. Yea, those two were probably about to have a little _too much_ fun. Azuma picked Hayato up higher so he could wave longer. She smiled at him and slipped her hand into his free one. But…she hoped one day.

Maybe.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jilliana scowled pensively, swiping and typing on her phone as she sat on the couch in their home. Azuma was stretched across the other end, his feet in her lap, watching television. It was already midnight but they were still wound up from a frantic day. She'd delivered close to three kids today which was pretty hefty nowadays, especially as they were back to back. Quick, too. Apparently that wasn't going to be the case for her predicament.

"Azu?"

"Yea, baby?"

"I think we should have separate rooms when we go to my grandparent's beach house. And I probably need to sleep in the guest room tonight."

Azuma looked to her swiftly, confused. She made a face when everyone's schedule was completely stacked. "My birth control implant needs to be updated and I won't be able to get it done since I'm in the NICU all this week and we leave next week. They won't let me do it to myself, of course."

Her boyfriend smirked some, raising a brow, "Jilli, I'm not sure how either of us are conscious right now to begin with but I think we can either not have sex or be 'safe' for two weeks."

"No, you don't understand" she sulked, leering at him, "My family is _notorious_ for unexpected pregnancies, Azu. I think it's rumored not one of my mom's siblings were planned, all six of them."

"But there were twins" Azuma countered reasonably.

"Yes, Azu, theyhad **two** _unexpected_ set of twins in a row _then_ had an unexpected _sixth_ child."

"…Huh. That's true, I hadn't thought about it like that. I have two twofers in a row, I'm definitely not risking the possibility of three" Azuma remarked, wide-eyed.

Jilliana shook her head, pouting more, "And it's not just _them_. According to Carrie, she was safe-ish and boom, Hayato. Kaede with Sachiko. Hell, they told Keiji and his wife they couldn't even _have kids_ and they've _had kids._ We are _absurdly fertile_. I cannot risk it. I'd manage to get pregnant through osmosis and I couldn't even question 'how?'."

"Osmosis though, Jilli?" Azuma snickered.

"You are not taking me seriously, this is _real_."

He chuckled and sat up, kissing her cheek, "If it's all the same to you, unless my 'boys' are somehow able to travel out of my penis without me knowing and travels all the way to find one of your eggs, I would like to be able to sleep in the same bed."

Giving him a dreadful look, she grumbled as she stood, " _Fine_. But we _cannot_ have sex."

"That's fine, the old man is too tired to get it up anyway" he yawned widely, standing as well to stretch.

She smirked and followed him up the steps, checking her phone for messages, "Maybe not _now_ , Azu, but when we're on vacation?"

Grandpa Yamada surprised their grandmother with, what her Uncle Koji called the most 'bougie thing ever', a beach house for their anniversary. While Grandma Dana was pretty lackadaisical about it at first, when he actually took her to the house on a small island in the Caribbean, she fell absolutely in love. She had invited them all out to come stay for a week and Jilliana agreed they needed an escape.

Of course, the house was _big_ but with most of the Yagami and other family on board to go, it probably was going to be close quarters. She would say she could share a room with Carrie but her and Kurt were still newlyweds…huh, Jilliana probably _would_ have to sleep with Azu.

Sitting on the bed as he took off his shirt, scratching his semi-muscly belly, she swallowed. Just…two weeks, that's all. She wasn't as…vigorous as her sister was so two weeks should be fine. He eased off his slacks and dropped them into the hamper, heading toward the bathroom. He did have a nice butt though.

Jilliana shook her head stiffly, slapping her cheek to snap out of it. Nope, nope, this was not the time. Her and Azu had known each other for years, been together for almost two now, but it was still fairly new and having a baby right now would be setting up for disaster.

Two weeks. No osmosis.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"It is…absolutely _beautiful_ out here."

Hattori Azuma stood on the crystal sands, his eyes incapable of traveling from the sheer blue waters. It was so… _clean_. Yagami Yamada was nearby on a beach chair, smiling somewhat. "It is. I never thought about coming to places like this growing up but when I came out for a seminar and saw it, I just knew this is a piece of something I wanted Dana and I to have. Something told me she'd love it."

Yagada herself was actually out playing in the water with her daughter, granddaughters, and forward, seeming delighted as they splashed around and dove into the sea. The water itself was so warm and comfortable he found _he_ was okay with it. This…this was definitely the vacation he needed.

Yamada's eyes closed somewhat as his sons meandered back, all of them holding this most…whimsical thing that Azuma always thought was just this mythical aspect of islands portrayed in media: they were drinking out of a coconut.

"Why does something tell me there's not just coconut milk in that?" Yamada questioned, actually sort of dry.

Azuma couldn't help laugh as they all looked mischievous, handing the man one. Koji sat on a nearby beach chair, yawning, "It was _awesome,_ old man. There was just this random bar hanging out in the middle of the _water_. There was no way we were _not_ getting drinks from them."

"Seriously" Shaun grinned, looking out at the sea, "I know we've goneto all sorts of places but this is the first time I can say I've felt actually relaxed. Like, we went to plenty of tropics but this?"

"It is nice" Shin agreed, sitting beside Koji.

Somehow, Yamada seemed like the type to _not_ drink anything aside from the practical one glass of red wine but he actually took a sip of the coconut concoction. His brow rose and he looked at it, "…Is this brown rum?"

"Yea, we figured you wouldn't want any flighty Malibu" teased Nelly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Azuma chuckled as they all heckled their father before he started to go up to the on-shore bar to get himself a drink. Their family made him kind of wish his dad and him were closer. And definitely his mom, he smiled, looking back to see Dana had come out of the water to start berating them a bit while they scattered, laughing. Oh well, maybe…maybe if they had kids.

He flustered, ordering a Bahama Mama just because, and looked to Jilliana who was stretched across a rope hammock with Carrie, also sipping drinks but out of a pineapple. They were giggly and enjoying themselves. The kids were around, of course, but he guessed if they had a baby right now, half of their time would be devoted to them. One day but that could wait.

Walking to his girlfriend, the woman looked up and smiled at him. "Hi, Azu. The sand getting to you yet?"

"You mean this powdery goodness that only slightly coats my warmly drenched feet?"

Carrie laughed, "Sounds like a 'no'."

He raised a brow, noticing that they seemed 'chilled' but not the 'chill' they had after drinking a glass or two of wine. "Uh…are those…virgin pineapples?"

Jilliana giggled, "You can tell? I can't get it out of _Carrie_ why she's not drinking but I'm trying to avoid getting drunk and turning into little Miss Slutty McSlut Slut."

"Now Jilli, slut is a very strong not woman-friendly word" Carrie grinned lazily.

"I know" Jilliana droned, "But with all the booze and warm feelings, that's exactly what I would be the stereotype of—for one person, anyway."

Azuma blushed but smirked, wandering to the nearby other hammock and shakily lying across it with his drink in hand. "Carrie, can you advise your sister that condoms have come a _long_ way if she's feeling particularly strongly about us having sex."

Grinning even more, Carrie nudged Jilliana with her toe playfully, "It's still funny to me the ever responsible and virtuous oldest is so against the usage of _condoms_."

"I am _not_ against the _usage_ of condoms as a birth control and to avoid STDs but, for us, just _using_ them? I do not care for them" Jilliana's nose wrinkled.

"Sorry, Azuma, you are not getting nailed on effin' _vacation_. I silently weep for you" Carrie said rather solemnly.

With another chuckle, he closed his eyes and shook his head, "It's fine. It'd be pretty awkward anyway considering we're elbow deep in all of your uncles and parents…"

The sun was downright oppressive, he thought absently. It wasn't humid which was perfect but he had been applying sun screen all day and still looked about two shades darker than usual. On Jilliana, the added toning looked…very nice, especially with that blue bikini. Sipping his beverage, absently gazing at her, he started to feel a little more disappointed.

"Well, lemme go find my hubby" Carrie sighed, working her way out of the hammock.

Azuma's brows furrowed at the… particularly shaped markings across Carrie's back and legs. Jilliana smirked, surprisingly remarking, "Yea, let him know you found the whips and chains club of the island."

Carrie looked confused before looking back and laughing, shaking her butt a little, "He might be inspired to get a little kinky."

With a shake of her head as Carrie made her way back toward the main area, Jilliana stood and got into the hammock with him. God, the smell of sunscreen and the beach was so intoxicating. Not only was it such a comforting aroma, it was…a little intoxicating. She scowled at him, "Hey, dude."

"Sorry, sorry. Got a little excited for a second, it'll pass."

Azuma swallowed as Jilliana bit her lip, turning inward, chest to chest. Oh boy. He closed his eyes as she stroked his length through the shorts he was wearing, nipping at his bottom lip teasingly. "I'm sorry I let it expire. We could have the house all to ourselves right now…"

She shivered as he ran his hand down her inner thigh, feeling her shake against his body. Damn. "I-It's okay. L-let's go to the bar in the ocean your uncles were talking about to forget about it."

With a smile and a nod, she stood up, holding his hand as they headed toward the beach edge of paradise. Okay, yea, sex wasn't one of the end all and be all in their relationship but given that they had so little time together, it…it kind of was just occurring to them a little more. But, if she were concerned about getting pregnant and had this rather strange concept that she was super fertile, so be it. He wouldn't push it, they were patient people.

Children could wait.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh my gosh! Congratulations, Jilliana, you're expecting!"

Azuma stared at one of the doctors at the hospital where they worked like she'd grown another head.

What in the living hell was she _saying?_ Jilliana just smiled some as the woman advised they'd have to remove the contraceptive transplant which apparently was too little too late. Pregnant? From—from _how_?

He couldn't say a word after they left. She hadn't been feeling well, saying she felt nauseous and bloated. Azuma took her to her primary care doctor and now… _no_.

Finding himself already having pulled into their driveway, he finally slapped his hand against the wheel. There was _no way_. "I want a second opinion! We didn't touch each other until you had that implant and I don't care what you said about osmosis or whatever and not questioning it b-but there's _no way_!"

His girlfriend was silent before looking to him absently. What?! He might have had a wet dream during the vacation a month ago and _maybe_ —no! No one was _that_ fertile! It'd be a one in a billion chance _easy_!

"You remember the Friday before we left the Bahamas?"

"What? What about it?"

"You remember…tequila?"

Azuma scowled, remembering nothing of the sort given he avoided the liquor like the plague just from horror stories he'd heard. Or…

…Or wait. No. He…

 _It was a little place that they took the family motorboat to. They walked around and were haggled by vendors until they decided to have dinner and head back to the beach house. The mistake which was a bit dangerous for OTHER reasons was the guy that offered to take them back if they wanted to stay longer. All the uncles, even Koji, decided to head back to prepare for them leaving tomorrow. Jilliana's generation? They made the mistake of staying._

 _Carrie still wasn't drinking but certainly didn't stop him, Kurt, her cousin's Kaede, Steiner, Hoshiko, Jyun, and…Jilliana from downing some of the smoothest tequila he'd ever tasted. They were just sitting there, shooting shots RIGHT from the bottle into their mouths and laughing uproariously about absolutely nothing. The native guy had laughed AT them as he should and he was the one to suggest they head on back before it got too late. Azuma remembered…bits and pieces after that?_

 _He remembered Jilliana had on this tight blue mid-drift with cut off shorts that shaped around that nice, cushy bottom of hers. That tan made her eyes pop like the ocean they sailed and he might have remembered some other things popping._

 _If…he tried to pinpoint and recall that moment, he remembered them all staggering into the house and him collapsing on their bed. Jilliana was at the end of the bed, smiling at him sultrily. She crawled across the mattress and sat on his crouch with those tight little shorts and the mid-drift he now saw she was bra free underneath._

 _His hand might have reached out and tugged the hem of the pants down low to hopefully get a little look. It got pretty low but not low enough for his taste so he may have unbuttoned them to see that little line of flesh._

 _She pouted when he dragged them completely down and lifted the shirt over her perfect tits. "Azuma, we can't…"_

 _He…might have told her to lie on her back, they were about to get into a nice anatomy lesson. He may have ran his fingers up and down the two lips of skin before parting them. His fingers may have folded back the pink flesh surrounding the little nub and rubbed it gently but mercilessly. Jilliana may have been moaning and grabbing his arm, whimpering not to stop, so he might have added a bit more vigor as she grew wet._

 _He had slipped his fingers between the flesh, continuing to thumb her clit, jerking himself out and stroking as he pumped his FINGERS between the slippery folds. Her hips were coming off the bed as her leg began to shake, crying for him to stop. He…did stop? Yea, he got her off, that was it. Still no…_

 _Well, no, he may have told her she wasn't done yet as far as he was concerned. She was covering her mouth as he isolated her throbbing hard clit again to move his tongue around. He sucked, he nipped, he licked. She came again…but again, there was still no…_

 _Jilliana told him 'enough' and then proceeded to jump on top of him, sliding her soaking wet pussy down his hard cock and riding him with everything she had. He…yea, he probably did come inside of her but that was just once!_

 _But…he…may have started slapping her ass and pumping into her again after she sucked his dick. And he…he might have fingered her into another orgasm before giving it to her one more time._

 _He…could have SWORN this was something he dreamed but the next morning, while the both of them were crying from the most dramatic hangover he'd ever had, he might have noticed they were pretty sticky and naked?_

Azuma gawked, staring out of the window of their car as the rain fell. "… _Tequila._ "

Jilliana sighed deeply and he clenched his head, "J- _Jilliana!_ Did that _actually_ happen?! I thought it was like the world's best sex dream!"

His girlfriend smacked his arm, pouting at him, "Yes, it happened, dork. I just didn't tell you because I thought you remembered and didn't want to mention it."

"I-I mean, I-I didn't…I didn't force you, did I?" he rasped weakly.

Thank God, she rapidly shook her head to the negative, "No, no, Azu, I…I was most definitely on board with everything that happened that night, I am not going to suggest otherwise. Just…now we have a nice bundle of joy to show for it."

"…Man, you _really_ weren't kidding" he whispered, wide-eyed, "It was literally _one night_."

"Yea…"

Azuma looked to her as she twiddled her fingers…but smiled. "I'm sorry, Azu, but I-I am a little excited. I shouldn't be but I am. I'm sorry."

Oh, thank goodness. "Why are you apologizing, silly? I-I'm happy you're happy. I know we're…fresh at this but I-I would hate for you to be unhappy. I-I promise I will be the best father I can be."

"I know" she whispered, "It's just…we're both doctors and I don't know if it'll be fair to our baby. They deserve so much and I don't know if we'll even be available to give."

That much was very true. He kissed her temple, grabbing the umbrella from the pocket in the back of his seat. "I can take on less work until our baby is in school. It won't be much of a loss to me as long as I keep practicing."

"But…" she pouted so cutely, "I would be jealous."

Azuma couldn't help laugh, opening the door to open the umbrella, "Of me getting to be home with our baby? I would be too. Let's worry about that a little more down the line, okay?"

Well…great. He was now about to be a father. He technically hadn't seen his father since he was shot, the man advising his wife was dogging him about spending time away from home. Maybe so, maybe she didn't want him seeing his old family, but…

Unfortunately, that was going to have to have very little to do with him now. He was going to be a father. And he may have had closure with his family but…he had to do better than they had. Just had to.

…And there was one thing he didn't have to do but wanted to. He'd…hoped it'd come before this step but he hadn't wanted to be too fast, to feed into any superstitions. Well, the same way Jilliana said her family was absurdly fertile and she was now pregnant, she also said they were kind of magical.

Time to start the next chapter.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She was so angry with herself.

'Well, your back hurts? You still need to get your rest!'. 'You can't stomach anything? Well, try to eat this and this but you have to eat!'. 'You're putting on too much weight with the baby, try this!'. Those women had the patience of saints with her because if she heard it one more time from HER obstetrician, she'd have a meltdown.

Jilliana stared miserably at the bubbly woman who still had a waist and wasn't carrying twelve extra pounds of baby and potentially water. Bloated seemed like a compliment to what Jilliana actually felt. Her baby wanted not one _healthy_ thing. Not _one_. Okay, strawberries, cucumbers, watermelon—some of which she _shouldn't_ be eating per dietary suggestions for pregnant women—but salads? Quinoa? All other greens? Five months in and her baby _would not_ have it. For a while, the best days were when he just allowed her to get queasy and not throw up for four hours straight.

He, her growing little man, wanted all things unhealthy and barely nutritious. Cereal. And not the good ones, she was talking the Froot Loops, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Captain Crunch, colorful _sugar_ wheat. Oh, and chili dogs? Nachos? Loaded fries? He absolutely _thrived_ on it. Azuma had seemed shocked at first. _"I've never seen you even eat half this stuff!"_

Exactly. That was exactly the sort of nonsense she also questioned because there were things she literally may have tasted once in her life that she hated and never wanted again that her baby wanted. He was not _psychic,_ he was not _present_ when she was ten and decided fried Oreos were not for her. All the same, that taste hit her buds and his greedy baby self said 'That. That is what I want at four in the morning, mama, that thing you hated from twenty plus years ago'.

It was _outrageous_ that she was allowed to speak to these women as some grand healer and know-it-all prior to being pregnant. Yes, she still knew that everything she advised was important and valid. Nutrients were important, she actually started taking an antiemetic so that Junior was keeping that salad in his system whether he wanted it or not. She knew being active was important, she started taking walks with Azu again though her body wanted no part of it. Just she said it with an air of _authority_ prior to this, an air of 'you must and have no choice or you're failing yourself and your baby'. Yes, she always said it nicely but she was insistent there was 'no choice'. Now? Oh no, there were choices. It took every bit of fight against the mental, physical, and even weirdly sometimes spiritual to make the good ones but there were sure as hell choices and all the bad ones were absolutely the easiest and most seductive. Sometimes she fried her own damn Oreos.

"Definitely work some more greens in, Hattori-san. And make sure to take your vitamins!"

Somehow advising the woman to go jump off a cliff absently popped into Jilliana's mind but that was cruel and unnecessary when she was doing exactly what she was supposed to do. Just Jilliana's baby had seemed to make the decision that greens of a specific sort were the devil's work and all the antiemetics in the world wouldn't make him like them. His price was that they curl up in bed for a couple hours with a stomachache. Jilliana smiled and thanked her for the advice before struggling off the table and leaving. Four more months to eviction, baby, and you _were_ leaving on time.

"Hey, how'd your visit go?"

Jilliana looked at her little sister, Inaba Carrie, irritably. The younger grinned, standing from the chair in the waiting room, "I told you this wasn't a picnic.

"Oh, I'm _past_ that bit of knowledge. What aggravates me is you're off acting in a _drama_ and _seven months pregnant_!"

With a laugh, Carrie patted her round belly. After Jilliana found out, she went with Azuma to have dinner with her parents to make the announcement. Surprisingly, Carrie and Kurt were already there at the old vineyard when they arrived. Upon questioning this occurrence, Carrie confirmed she had an 'announcement' too. Their papa gawked in horror when they proclaimed, entirely unintentionally, in unison, 'I'm pregnant'.

" _WHAT?"_

 _Jilliana had gasped, looking to Carrie who was looking at her with the same expression, "That's why you weren't drinking at the beach!"_

" _I guess that tequila did you and Azuma in too" she teased._

 _Poor Izumi Cliff buried his face in his hands while their mother looked amused. "You all sure know how to put your poor papa through the ringer."_

 _Azuma flustered, "W-Well, maybe it's not appropriate for me to ask then."_

 _"Ask what, sweetie?" Jilliana had blinked._

"Hattori-san! We bought you some more things for the baby!" called some of her coworker nurses.

 _"Izumi Jilliana, would you marry me?"_

Jilliana turned with a warm smile, gushing to them they shouldn't have, especially since she wanted to invite them to her baby shower she was having for friends. They insisted they were seeing all sorts of cute things for the first baby in the department in eight years so that wouldn't be an issue. They told her to go see her 'hubby' before she left, that he was being run ragged by a recent cave in in one of the small mines, and seeing her might lift his spirits. Her hubby.

Obviously, when Azu voiced this rather random and, again, _fast_ declaration, Jilliana couldn't help think it was to make her an 'honest woman', being pregnant before marriage and all. While she was ready to declare this when he asked in front of her family, he added on, "— _Whenever—or if you're comfortable with me, when you think we're the right fit, whenever…whenever this is the framework you wanted, I want…I want to still be in the running for that place."_

…Was he still running? After everything? She didn't trust him because of his mother and he ended up getting _shot_ during that whole affair. He advised her mother to introduce the character of his uncle whom was well-received in her recently released novel. He actually took Hayato and her other cousin's to their soccer games by himself. He…he had a place here. Hattori Azuma was in her 'framework'. It was so soon though…

" _Yes._ "

While she fancied herself to be someone that took five to six years to make such a decision, it didn't even faze her when she heard his reasoning. He'd…he'd come a long way to feel like he wasn't in the shadows. She accepted because really, he never had been.

It was such a rush, her poor papa just as disgruntled as ever, as they got together dresses and gowns and flowers. Yagami Dana made such a beautiful lace-back dress that Jilliana couldn't even _dream_ about fitting now and a dark charcoal tuxedo for Azuma. Like Carrie, she spared everyone of being a maid but did decree her sister the maid-of-honor. Azuma asked Takeru to be his best man, figuring she may appreciate that. Takeru, back to his usual spirited self but with a new sense of maturity, grinned that he figured he could responsibly take care of the ring until it was show time.

About a month later, they had the affair in a beautiful garden with Roman columns and ivy wrapping around stone. It was quite warm still in early September but the crisp smells of Autumn were just starting to reintroduce themselves and it was absolutely perfect. There wasn't a hint of apprehension amongst them, her papa citing the second time _was_ easier, and she was now Hattori Jilliana.

Walking along the hospital with her sister, she pouted, "Do you mind if I check on Azu? I know you want to get back home."

"Tuh, to Kurt's crazy ass grandma? We're getting ice-cream after we see him, right?"

Jilliana chuckled, shaking her head as she pressed the button coordinating to Azuma's floor in the elevator. Inaba Kurt's grandmother was everything old-fashioned that existed from a few generations ago. That Carrie was pregnant and acting was appalling for _other_ reasons aside from her ankles were swollen to the max. Carrie questioned sometimes if she understood exactly what she had married into. Jilliana would worry also, but, well, that was the _precursor_ to her relationship. She hadn't met Azuma's grandparents but, according to him, he technically hadn't either so she guessed that was an experience for them to share if it occurred.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Izumi ladies!"

Jilliana and Carrie entered the pulmonary area with masks on at the behest of the other nurses. Once they came further in, they were greeted by Iwata-san, an old man they used to terrorize in their youth. They smiled, walking to his side as he lied on a stretcher in the hallway, covered in dust. "Not quite anymore, Iwata-san, but close enough! What happened?"

"Aww, helping that silly grandson of mine get jewels out of the mine. I told him I'm too old for that stuff" he scoffed with a cough.

Carrie frowned, "Tim's okay though, right?"

"He's the only one that's okay, actually" he chuckled, "Hightailed it to get help once the mine fell in. Ah well, guess ol' Gray has the blacksmith market cornered for a little while."

"You'll be up in no time" Jilliana offered, patting his hand.

"And no offense but Amazon has had the blacksmith market cornered for a lot a while now anyway" Carrie teased.

Iwata-san made a pouty face, "Now does Amazon give you the same charm as our shops?"

Jilliana giggled, "Not at all."

"Amazon doesn't have a thirty minute turn around for sharpening an ax, that's for sure" Carrie chuckled.

"I'm sure that's just a matter of time too. All the old ways will die out and all us geezers will have to retire" Iwata-san sighed gravely.

Now Jilliana's turn to pout, she was about to advise she hoped that wasn't the case. While Mineral was very clearly progressing forward, just having okayed the train from mainland Hondo to here, she hoped some of it stayed the same. She knew her and her child's childhood wouldn't be the same but…

"Enough of that doom and gloom. You two ready for your little handfuls?"

"If he's anything like he is in the womb right now, he will very much be a handful and I am not ready" Jilliana groaned.

"Ain't by the same man, is it?"

"Iwata-san, of course not" Jilliana stuck out her tongue.

Carrie winked, "I dunno, you know how I feel about the dark-eyed ones…"

Jilliana smirked at her sister as Iwata-san laughed, "That one's always been trouble. You've both got good men. Kurt always provides us good business and your doctor here has been fixing us up nice and quick."

"Yea, I think we did all right" Jilliana smiled warmly.

"Jilli?"

Looking up, her smile broadened as Hattori Azuma appeared, carrying a box. He looked pensive, "Sweetheart-"

"I've had my mask on the whole time" she interrupted dryly, standing, "Did you need me to do anything? Hook up oxygen? Check for O2 levels?"

Azuma smirked, kissing her forehead, "You are off the clock until my son stops terrorizing you."

Due to some of the difficulties she was having, the hospital cleared her to start maternity leave this month. It was a blessing and definitely progressive but…she was sort of bored. Azuma sighed, stroking his hair away from his forehead, "…I get off in about an hour, baby. Promise."

"Okay…"

They bid farewell to Azuma and Iwata-san as they made their way downstairs to the lobby. Jilliana absently blinked at Megumi-san who was side-eying her. While most of the hospital knew and accepted that she and Azuma were now married, Megumi-san spread rumors about how 'fast' she was. Not too long ago, she _may_ have agreed on the speed in regard to her marriage but…

She liked being Hattori Jilliana.

Carrie gasped that they should go get some ice-cream from Kai's Beach House. Jilliana teasingly reminded her it was February and neither of them liked the cold. Carrie tilted her head as her daughter started to move in her belly, either a knee or elbow emerging underneath the flesh. Her baby wasn't quite there yet but he better be as chill as Emma was.

Emma. Carrie knew right away that she wanted to name her daughter Emma. It was a character in something they watched growing up and even when Carrie was in her 'dark' stage, she'd been adamant the name would be for her first daughter. For as much as Jilliana had always wanted children, she had never been dead set on a name. She'd been looking but nothing seemed quite right.

"Nee-sans!"

They both looked up, nonplussed but groaning together in exasperation as Takeru pulled up in a car by himself. It'd be _fine_ if it was _legal_ for him to drive. He was _almost_ to sixteen but not quite. "Takeru-"

"Hey, hey, dad said I could drive by myself if I wanted! It's practice for New York."

Carrie looked very amused. "Itoto-san, I _promise_ you will not want to drive in New York. I guess it would be best to get experience now because you won't be doing much of it there."

Time was flying. It was like their parents made that promise he could start college when he turned sixteen and sixteen was just around the corner. Jilliana felt herself become misty-eyed. Takeru simply smirked. "Sis, do not cry because I'm leaving in half a year. You won't even have time for me with you having a kid."

"Oh, but you were like my first baby and now you're going to college!"

Carrie sighed softly. Takeru just grinned cheesily, "Yea, you guys did a good job raising me, I guess. C'mon, I dunno what would make either of you walk around with a bowling ball attached to your body."

"Yea, mistakes were made" Carrie agreed, her brows tweaking as she climbed into the passenger's seat.

Jilliana reluctantly climbed into the back and sighed as Takeru drove them around Mineral, Carrie requesting they go somewhere with a banana split. Well…maybe her little man would accept the health benefits of a banana if it was smothered in chocolate and whipped cream.

"What do you think I should name my baby?" she asked the two as they headed toward an ice-cream shop.

"Zeppelin" Takeru said all too seriously.

"Hattori Zeppelin, Takeru?" Carrie snickered.

Jilliana blinked languidly as Takeru looked perplexed, "…Huh, that last name is tricky. He sounds like a classic rock samurai."

Watching all of the stores they passed, Jilliana figured she would discuss it more with Azu but even he was perplexed. _"I can think of a dozen names for a girl but a boy? I don't know."_

"Jilliana? I think I have a suggestion but I don't know what you'd think of it."

She looked up when Carrie spoke rather quietly, surprised. Eh? "Oh? Well, shoot."

"I think it'll be something that your husband will appreciate too."

"That's it, just name him Azuma Junior and call it a day" nodded Takeru.

Jilliana made a face and Carrie smirked, tapping him chidingly, "No…but it's a similar idea. A sign of good faith for both of our families."

…Hmm?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"… _How are you?"_

 _"…Fair, I guess. Little different when you have to wheel yourself around."_

 _Yagami Popuri sat on the other side of the glass, staring at her older brother. He looked tired and weak. She wasn't sure how she even figured to speak to him again._

 _Did it eat at her that he never bothered to tell her? A little. What ate at her the most was it seemed like Rick didn't tell her or their mother to protect them. That was a redeeming factor for a damn murderer. But…she had to know. "Rick, why didn't you tell us?"_

 _Rick adjusted his glasses on his nose, staring away from her, before shrugging. "Figured it wouldn't do any good."_

 _"Mom could have left-"_

 _Her older brother scoffed loudly, "Oh really, Popuri? Your beloved husband left you for almost fifteen years to start up with a healthier woman to have a healthier family and you'd just make it?"_

 _"You've always had this sexist idea that women are weaker, Rick, but we make it when you men fuck up."_

 _Rick was quiet for a second. "…Maybe. Just I don't know if anyone can accept how the person you love would rather spend almost two decades lying than tell you the truth."_

 _Popuri hesitated. That… "…I guess I do have to concede that may be damaging."_

 _"I really don't know, Popuri. Mom made it a lot of years and she probably figured at some point he wasn't coming back. Remember how he called though? Remember how he made it sound like he was making such 'strides'?"_

 _Swallowing, she gripped her fists and stared down, "…He painted a very lovely picture."_

 _It went without saying and she had a pretty good idea but she had to ask: "Has he tried to talk to you since the incident?"_

 _"Ha, no. I'm sure I'm the garbage of the Earth just for considering setting him up."_

 _"Well, you're not getting any points for that" Popuri snorted, tapping the table, "…Is he why you're in here, Rick?"_

 _Rick rolled his eyes upward. She thought he was annoyed but he was thinking. Maybe a little too hard. She expected him to have a sob story he hoped would make her soften to all the damage he'd done. She wasn't that naïve anymore._

 _"No."_

 _…No? "No?"_

 _"The world is full of people that have crap parents, Popuri, that make bad decisions and go off and do things like our dad did. While a lot of them decided to use it for a wrong, a whole lot of them decided to do the right damn thing. It wouldn't have killed me to do the right damn thing. Maybe I would be married to Karen right now with a kid instead of your brother-in-law and running that chicken farm. But I get myself put in jail because I thought I could assault someone, murder someone. Then I get a second chance and do the same exact shit. This time I don't have legs. I could've been you, Popuri."_

 _… "And you still would have known."_

 _"Yea, I'd take knowing in a nice house with a wife and both legs to sitting in jail with the same knowledge and nothing to show for it."_

 _Leaning back, Popuri took a deep breath, "…You won't be up for bail for another thirty years, brother. That's a long time but…maybe I'll think about speaking up for you when that time comes. And this time I want you to get the hell out of here, start over, and don't look back."_

 _Rick smiled some, adjusting his glasses, "I won't get my hopes up I'll live that long, Popuri, but it'll be something to look forward to. Sorry you ended up with such trash relatives that need you to bail them out of jail on murder charges."_

 _Popuri groaned, "The murder…you do deserve to be in here."_

 _"Undoubtedly. Judge would probably deny me instantly. But it's a nice thought. Don't put too much of that into it though. It's just a thought and I deserve to be here. To die here."_

 _"…I'm sorry you felt I was too weak to face this with you, nii-san."_

 _His red eyes closed some, gazing away. "…That was all I had control of: not letting you wonder what it was we did wrong."_

 _She gaped some and the guard announced the visit was over. Rick wheeled himself back and shook his head, "…Get back to your perfect family and perfect life, Popuri. The problems are going to always be underneath what you built but that's in your control."_

 _…Or going to rot away everything._

Koji yawned widely, scratching his belly as he collapsed onto their bed face first, hugging his pillow. Popuri glanced at him as she stared at her phone. In her messages contained a text to her father. He'd messaged, complaining that no one was picking up his calls now and it must have something to do with her 'stupid husband'. It did not. And her husband had not once left her to start a whole new family so addressing him as 'stupid' did a whole other number on her nerves. She pretty much wrote a dissertation on what a despicable human being he was and that she would block his number in every format available. She was very tempted to hit 'send'.

…But. "Kochi?"

"Mm? Yea, baby?" Koji responded drowsily.

"…Your…your parents, have they…have they ever kept a big secret from you?"

"Probably."

"…Probably?"

"My parents are secretive people. I'm sure there's any litany of things they've never told me" Koji murmured, his dark eyes opening to gaze at her, "Why?"

She hesitated. She…she wanted to talk to someone with a new perspective about it but she just knew Koji: he'd want her to go seek these people out and she wanted nothing to do with them. Her husband sat up, tilting his head, "Baby, we kind of went through this with the Mark dealy and then the whole daughter on birth control dealy? I don't know if it's quite on that level but you know you can tell me things. And if I react the way you don't want me to, just tell me. I'm a flexible guy."

Popuri groaned and rubbed her face. Right, right. Communication. Stretching her legs across his, she bit her lip, "…When I went to see Rick after the shooting, he told me to look up 'Hoshimiya Stephanie' and that he thought I was strong enough now."

Koji's brows furrowed. "Hoshimiya Stephanie? The entertainer MC? She's been at a few conferences I went to. Why? What about her?"

Quietly, she twiddled with his fingers. Koji gazed at her before rolling his eyes around, mouthing, "Oh wow."

"Mm."

"…I mean, was it just a one-off affair? Not that it makes it any better-"

"No" she muttered, "He left us, met this woman's mother, married her, and had a child. The poor lady found out he had a wife somewhere else and divorced him exactly at the time he came back to us. He ran out of options."

"Piece of shit."

"It won't ever excuse what Rick did but-but I just saw him today and I asked why he didn't tell me too? Why'd he face that burden alone? He…he told me that that's all he had control over: not having to let me think about what it is we did wrong."

Koji's eyes widened as she could barely whisper, "And he's right: that's all I've been wondering ever since he told me to look her up. What on Earth made it so hard he'd leave his barely ten-year-old children and sick wife to fend for themselves? Did we annoy him? Were we too much trouble? What made him just leave with a lie and start over?"

Sniffling, she wiped her eye. "And if these are the same questions that ate Rick up at night then I can see why he rotted away."

Her husband didn't say anything for a moment before gently hugging her against him. Finally, after a few more moments of silence, he murmured, "Well…I guess he was an okay big brother at least in one way."

"He shouldn't have" she hissed, "He shouldn't have kept that burden all on himself and he shouldn't have kept that secret so I accepted that garbage so freely back into my life. I let him mistreat my children, my husband—and he's a liar. A bitch ass liar."

"Popuri, the thing with Rick was almost _two years_ ago now. Why didn't you tell me you were dealing with this?"

"…You're so family-oriented, Kochi. I just knew you'd want me to meet Stephanie and I-I just can't. It's not her fault nor her mothers but I just can't meet the family he _did_ want."

Koji looked flabbergasted. "Popuri, what the hell? You think I'd force you to do anything, _especially_ that? I feel bad for them but I'm more concerned with _you_ and how you're handling this and it doesn't sound like you're handling it too great."

She shook her head as he gently sat her up, holding her shoulders, "First off? I, _shockingly,_ know where Rick is coming from with this 'what is it that _I_ did wrong?' thing but neither of you did _anything_ wrong. If your dad couldn't deal with his circumstances, he could have been less cowardly telling you he couldn't handle it anymore and left. Where that would have left you, I don't know, but running off on a bold-faced lie about finding some 'cure' for your mother and then shacking up with some lady that didn't know he was already married?"

"Maybe she did" Popuri grumbled.

"That's the thing about the eighties and nineties, Popuri, without social media, we could be blank slates in every town we wanted. Plus, you don't really think people will go to the trouble of moving in and proposing if it's just a booty call. And it was a deception to multiple parties. One of which was to a young son and daughter that probably looked up to a father that left on a whim."

"I know…"

"So what do you want me to do? Throw him off a cliff?" Koji asked, his tone just a little _too_ serious.

Popuri could only groan as he rubbed her back, "I am entirely serious."

"Yea, that's the worst part" she smirked, leaning in to kiss him, "…I feel better just having talked about it. I…I guess I'm not used to talking about how I feel."

"It's not an easy thing…but I'm always here."

She curled against him and felt him fall asleep. She wasn't quite there yet but was somewhat relieved. It didn't rectify not one damn thing he did or the fact that she was leaving that bastard there to lie to her poor mother, something her husband was bound to notice soon and seethe over. He was very protective of mothers…

…She'd just had to put her son back in jail. Lillia didn't need the extra strain and Popuri didn't have it in her heart to release that burden to her. For now…for now, Koji, her sweet prince that actually returned to her, not _completely_ the same but devoted in his efforts, would do. This…this wasn't going to eat away at her. Not when their family was still growing…

But what was it they did wrong?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hattori Azuma smiled as he curled up on the small hospital bed with his wife, staring in awe at this…this being that already meant the world to him.

He simply hadn't had time. He honest to God wrote his mother a letter telling her he was married and expecting a child. That was during Jilliana's seventh month and he hadn't gotten a word back. He figured old biases never died and she was probably wondering had he lost his mind. That…that was neither here nor there. What was decided though, she might not forgive him for either but…when Jilliana said it, he thought it was a perfect idea.

Their son was nestled against his mama, swaddled and staring at them with the most dreary expression. Jilliana had him three hours ago and, aside from allowing him to hold him a few times, hadn't put him down yet. Azuma chuckled softly, leaning closer to them. Their baby had the clearest blue eyes, honestly even bluer than his mama's which was somewhat shocking, with the little wisps of dark hair. He was a handsome little guy…

Jilliana asked him four months ago, shyly, if he thought it was a good idea to name their son 'Tsumaru'.

Tsumaru? The Uncle his mother forced him to emulate? The same man whose memory had tore apart his parent's marriage to the point he seldom saw his dad and his mother dogged the living hell out of him during his entire upbringing? The one that caused his mother such malice and rage that she attempted to kill his now relatives and that only through him getting shot she backed down? That man? The name of his son?

Azuma remembered that brief tumultuous spark of emotions when his wife suggested it before it just settled in like a missing piece in their puzzle. No. Not that man. That person that sacrificed himself for the life of his wife's mother so that she could be here with them today. That same person that helped and saved lives and would have wanted his sister to carry on knowing that everything he'd ever done he'd done with love. No matter what came between him and his sister, that person would have never stopped loving her. He would have known she still cared. That person that wrote a letter to her but never got to mail it that probably confirmed these things? That was the person he was honoring. His son would never have to live up to any expectations but his own, Azuma knew that for a fact. All the same, he could respect Ishikawa Tsumaru's good intentions. If it'd been that way all along, it would have been so much different.

"Oh Azu" Jilliana gushed, untucking Tsumaru enough so she could hold his finger, "I can't get over him. I just can't. He's so beautiful. I'm just going to be crying all the time now."

"He is rather adorable" Azuma agreed, "I love you, Jilliana."

She smiled at him, that same smile she gave him even when she was aware he was raised to hate her existence for absolutely nothing. It was so warm and giving and that's why he pushed himself this far. Not only for himself but this woman that gave the world to him. Grinning, he kissed her lips before kissing Tsumaru's forehead.

"I know you don't want to but it's time to share him with the world."

"Oh pooh" she pouted.

… "…Baby?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"When…when he gets a little age on him, would…would you mind if I took him to see my mother? I know she's done a lot of bad to our family but I…I just kind of want her to see what that name could have meant: something good."

He expected his wife to balk at the idea but she nodded. "I think that'll be awesome, Azu."

Relieved, he messaged Jilliana's family and his father that their son was born, attaching a picture of their drowsy baby. Tsumaru even tweaked a bit of a smile, much to Jilliana's delight. Carrie text, despite it being six in the morning, that she was on her way along with Takeru and their parents. Jilliana pursed her lips, "…Now I won't get to hold him for at least two hours."

"You're gonna spoil our baby rotten, aren't ya?" he teased.

"Yea" she grinned.

Shaking his head with a chuckle, Azuma took another picture of the two, posting it to his account. His father surprised him by texting back: 'Congratulations, son'. Azuma stared, wondering if the man even thought to ask if he could come see Tsumaru. Oh well.

He smiled as Jill and Cliff appeared, the woman squealing about her grandbaby. Takeru drowsily joked that all of his nephews and niece were breaking up their blond trend, baby Emma Inaba's hair turning a darker color after being born blonde. Jilliana laughed, stating it was unlikely any of them would have blond children, actually. Maybe. He'd like a little girl that looked like her too…

…Never would he have thought he'd have gotten here. He…he found himself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Izumi Jill made a face as she sat at her laptop, trying to break her writer's block. She was…distracted by a lot of things.

" _O-Oh, uh oh, oh, oh, you don't have to go-oh-oh!"_

She blinked languidly as Takeru was collecting things from around the living room, throwing them into a box, singing. " _You hurt me to my so-o-o-ul; Darling, please don't go-o-o-o!"_

"Takeru."

Her baby grinned at her, just exuding pure excitement, "Sorry, mama, I'll be quiet."

Groaning, she stood and set her writing aside. It was foolish to even think she could anyway. He…he was leaving her soon.

It was crazy when she told him he could go when he was sixteen that sixteen pretty much popped up the next day. He'd waited patiently and she couldn't recant no matter how much she wanted to. Her first baby just had a baby and now her actual baby was leaving for college. It was…so surreal.

"You're packing so sloppily" she sulked, taking the box from him, "How will you know how to find anything?"

"I don't plan on taking _too_ much, mama. Just clothes and instruments and some knickknacks."

Right…right. He gave her a big sweet kiss on the cheek, all smiles. "I promise I'll make you proud, mama."

"Oh Take, you know you already have" she pouted, petting his hair, "I'm just…I'm just going to have an empty nest. I don't know how to take it."

"Well, just don't get too lonely and have another kid because I don't know if we can handle that."

Smirking, she slapped his arm and sighed as he skipped off. Oh well, she had two brand new grandchildren to go and spoil to her heart's content and they were just ten minutes away. And he didn't know it but now that fast travel was becoming more accessible, Takeru was about to be around an hour away too. But, since he was going to be her big college boy, she'd try to stick to her grandbabies for now.

Jill smiled softly, hugging her arms. When her daughter named her grandson after Tsumaru, she was shocked but it ended up being just perfect. He…he still had a place here and she hoped if there was an out there, he saw it. His name had been used for so much animosity and…and to give it to his great-nephew? Jilliana credited it as an idea of Carrie's to show good faith between both her and Azuma's family.

…This grandma was just in love with the idea. The other one? She…she wasn't so sure.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was 'unconventional' per the guard and they had to go through a lot more checks. 'Why would you bring a baby to a place like this?', Azuma had heard whispered. That wasn't any of their concern. He…he just needed to show her. She may not like it and he'd really considered that over the last few months. Azuma just…really needed to show her where he'd been able to go being Hattori Azuma.

He smirked as his drool machine son gummed on his hand, sitting in the room without glass as he requested months back. At just five months old, Tsumaru was the picture perfect example of one spoiled ass baby. He didn't like sitting by himself longer than maybe two minutes which was honestly two minutes too long considering Jilliana almost never put the little joker down. He was starting to move around and wanted to flip over now, shocking his mama. Tsumaru informed her that when he started walking he'd probably be a little disinterested in just being her lap baby to which she decried completely. Yep, his son might be a mama's boy. He could not relate but it was kind of cute.

His mother, the one that barely held his hand growing up, came into the room. She stared blankly, pausing as the guard closed the door. Uh oh. Azuma stood, "Hi, mom."

"…Hi."

"I have someone I'd like you to meet."

Hattori Rinko approached slowly, her eyes narrowing some at his son. The baby just stared at her. "…So that's your son, huh? Has it been that long already?"

He nodded, "It has gone by pretty fast, huh?"

She pursed her lips and he almost chuckled when she begrudgingly held her arms out. Handing the baby to her, he watched as she looked him over almost absently. While it was insane he was actually concerned she might chuck his baby to the floor when he told her, he…he just wanted her to know.

"Mama, I'd like you to meet Hattori Tsumaru, your grandson."

The woman looked up sharply, her face full of shock. Uh oh. "I-I suppose we could have asked first, mama, but-"

All he could do was panic as she suddenly started to cry, the biggest stream of tears rolling down her face. Choking out, she rasped, "O-Oh. Oh."

"We…We just wanted to honor his memory in something we loved. That's what Uncle deserves."

Sniffling in hard, Rinko laughed shakily, rubbing at her face. "Y-Yes. Yes, y-you're right, th-that's how it should have been. H-Hello, Tsumaru. Y-You have a very special name."

Tsumaru gurgled, blinking at her. She actually smiled, "…You even look like your Uncle."

Azuma folded his hands together, looking to her solemnly, "…I won't hold him to the expectations you held me to, mother. I expect him to be a decent person and that's all."

She quietly bounced Tsumaru a bit before looking to him, "Your uncle wrote to me that he was sorry that we'd had a disagreement, that he supported me and that he knew that no matter what foot we were on, he knew our bond remained. He gave me so much credit and I let him down. I…I let you down too by being too blind to see that. So, while it may shock you, if you had planned anything out for this baby, I would probably smack you silly."

He laughed softly, grinning at his son, "Well, I'd be lying if I didn't say I don't envision grandeur for him…"

"Of course" Rinko scoffed, "You don't envision failure and suffering for your kids. It…it just might not always come out the way you thought."

"…Mm."

He took a picture of them together, sending it to Jilliana. Rinko gave the baby a big kiss on the cheek, cooing, "…Not that you'd remember but this was my favorite stage. You just would lie around and nibble on your fingers."

Azuma's brows furrowed at this, having trouble believing his mother preferred when he was an incoherent mini-human. "I did. You were my own created distraction then, I…I didn't focus on things quite as much."

Well…that was true. His mother was generally pragmatic when it came to some things so if she bothered to have him, she was going to assure he was cared for and a baby definitely needed a lot of that. "Guess you should have just kept kicking out babies."

She leered at him before sighing, "…Maybe. Has your father seen him yet?"

Five months later? "Nope. Hasn't even mentioned it."

"I'll give him a call then. Our grandson needs Hattori grandparents too and I won't get to be that for a while."

Azuma shrugged awkwardly. "I'm not forcing him to be something he rather clearly doesn't want to be. Or his wife won't let him be."

"I'm still calling him. He…he doesn't need to be out of this one's life too."

Azuma frowned and the guard called, 'Time's up'. Rinko pouted, handing Tsumaru back and pinching his pudgy cheeks, "Until next time, Tsumaru."

She kissed his cheek next, affection still so weird between them. Just…he guessed she was trying. Just as the guard came in to escort her back to her cell, she murmured, "…I understand completely if she won't but bring your wife some time. I…I would like to apologize to her."

…Oh. "I…I will."

Leaving without another word, he started out of the facility for his car, about to call Jilliana and update her on the affair. She'd text back to the picture that she was thrilled his mom seemed to take so well to their baby. Yea, that…that was shocking, wasn't it?

All this time, he'd just been taking strides to improve himself and bring closure to a terrible situation. When his mother had her epiphany, he wanted to bring her closure too to all the things she had festering in her head about her brother.

Just…not only was there closure, other doors were opening to new possibilities and new feelings. The damage was done for a lot of things, especially what his mother had done to his wife and her family—she had meant to make them suffer.

While that may have meant they might never sit at the same dinner table together, it did mean that…that he wasn't the only one making a better way for himself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Aww, sissy, stop it."

Hattori Jilliana couldn't stop the wash of tears as they all stood in the airport. It was too soon. It was too soon, he was too young, and he was a baby and he shouldn't be going anywhere. Izumi Takeru had a backpack on his back and all his documents in his hand to board the plane to _college_. Her _baby brother_. He was eligible to go to school here in Japan but no, he wanted to travel to _America_. Her _baby_.

Inaba Carrie smirked, ruffling Takeru's hair and kissing his cheek, "I do a movie in Boston in a few months, I'll check on you then."

Takeru nodded and Jilliana sobbed, "How can you be so casual? He's a little boy!"

"Oh, Jilliana" Carrie rolled her eyes, "He has an opportunity, he should take it. I'll be over there all the time, Rosa should be going to America too and not _that_ far away should he need some emergency assistance—I doubt it though! Just promise me you won't get into anything _hard_ , Takeru."

"Promise, nee-san" he assured.

With a snivel, Jilliana clasped his hands, "Y-You be mindful when you're walking the streets. And-and carry your key and have an emergency set in your bag. And if you feel sick, you seek immediate treatment and-and if you have sex, wrap up."

"You know, that went very, very uncomfortably left at the end" Takeru smirked.

"It was all truth, bub" Carrie leered, poking him in the chest, "No glove, no love."

Takeru sighed airily, "I'll have you know, I was saving my virginity for _Sharron_ …"

Sharron, Yukina Steiner's little sister, was 21-years-old and also started college early. While she had been going to Tokyo University until recently, she managed to get into Cambridge in the UK. Meaning she was not thinking one darn thing about this little twerp. Even Jilliana gave him something of a look of disbelief. "So you won't be having sex ever then?"

"Ouch, nee-san! A boy can dream, right?"

Carrie snickered, "With your track record, that is _all_ that will be. Well, if you get past hand holding with your casual flings then, wear a condom, please. You do not need to have a kid this early."

"And wear one even if your partner says they're on the pill! Sexually transmitted diseases are still rampant" Jilliana scolded.

"Yea, I'm exiting stage left on this conversation-" Takeru pointed over his shoulder, backing away.

Cliff and Jill Izumi emerged from the check-in, carrying two small bags as they were going to escort Takeru to where he was staying. Their Uncle Tony was allowing him and Motosuwa Kenji to stay in his New York estate, a very small three bedroom house in Rochester that he bought when he worked there for a few years. It was _slightly_ illegal to have two underaged students living without adult supervision…and Jilliana agreed! However, Takeru and Kenji were going to be out there winging it on this adventure that terrified her for her baby brother…

"All right, let's start heading in, Takeru. We'll see you ladies when we get back" Cliff smiled softly.

"Okay. Safe travels, you guys. And call us every week, Takeru" Carrie commanded.

"Every _week_?" Jilliana gawked, "Every _day!"_

"For God's sake, Jilli, he's in college! He's going to be partying!"

Takeru smirked, his eyes closing some as their mother groaned, "I will _not_ and I will call every _week_ because I will be busy with _school._ I love you two so much and thank you for believing in me. I won't let you down."

"See? Now you're going to make _me_ cry" Carrie pouted, hugging him tightly, "I love you too, itoto."

Jilliana smiled reassuringly and kissed his forehead, giving him a quick squeeze. Jill also wistfully held Takeru's hand as they disappeared down the corridor and Jilliana couldn't help think that'd be her and Tsumu-chan one day…

…One step at a time, he just learned to roll over. She had…a little time before he ran off to start his journey.

Carrie stared after them before elbowing her, "So, wanna fail the Bechdel Test again?"

"I now _also_ have a baby boy I never stop talking about so I will also forever fail the Bechdel test" Jilliana joked.

"Now I won't say we should _never_ talk about anything other than our boys but…considering everything, I think we did okay?"

Jilliana was very reluctant to allow her beloved son go to see Azu's mother. While she wasn't certain why, something in her head said the woman might hurt him and she'd have had to go postal. It was aggravating, the woman seeking to not just hurt Takeru but _kill him_ , but…well, she didn't love one more than the other but one was nestled inside her body for nine months and she was in charge of keeping him safe. Just…she'd known Azuma needed it.

She was so surprised to get that picture of the woman holding Tsumu-chan. He looked perfectly comfortable and she looked enraptured. It…it didn't seem like the woman she knew. And in that, Jilliana realized she didn't know the woman at all. She'd…definitely made a bad impression just from acts alone.

But, Azuma advised that the woman wanted to meet her one day. That sounded terrifying and like something she ought to turn down just out of self-respect. She told her mother and Jill had fallen quiet. _"Honest to God? I don't know."_

 _"You don't know?"_

 _"I don't believe I'm the type of person that would ever find a way to justify killing. I believe there are people I want dead but…I do know, had it been one of my brothers, I would be destroyed. For as much of a knucklehead as they are, I know just from almost losing a few of your uncles that I would be. I don't know where her head space was to escalate to this point and I don't think I forgive her? But, honestly, I don't know."_

Jilliana didn't either. It seemed contrived and cheap that because the woman changed on her son's deathbed they were going to accept her with open arms. Just, considering everything, was it? Was it cheesy that 'forgiveness' would overcome? As her mom said, she wasn't sure she forgave the woman. She just couldn't say she wouldn't want Rinko to try to do better. It seemed almost as contrived that the villain remain so…

The late Tsumaru's sacrifice had come at some cost. Realistically, the outcome of Rinko's plots were pretty good despite how high the risks were. No one died and their families were able to conclude a lot of what troubled them. She now had no doubts about Azuma's intention and she had the namesake for the man that kept their legacy going.

A new beginning, a new start. Carrie was about to be a part of a Hollywood movie and Takeru was starting to school to be the musician he always dreamed he would be. She and Azuma would continue down this steady road, saving one person at a time. She had not one duplicitous feeling about where she was going.

…Time would tell.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

End notes:

So I went to the Bahamas last year and I can't _describe_ how absolutely amazing it was. Having seen only the Atlantic Ocean off our polluted shores, just seeing that blue water—actually _blue_ was something out of fiction. Just writing this sequence made me want to go back there.

Iwata-san is Tai from Magical Melody, Bob and Tim's grandpa. Bob was mentioned as a physical trainer in Yume.

Takeru is singing 'D'yer Mak'er' by Led Zeppelin.

Sweet LORD, I can't explain how awesome it is to finally finish this after years. It's a little rough in places and the pacing is off to me but when it fit, it fit. I had a lot of dead spots that kept me in writer's block but here we are.

So, Stephanie, the MC that you can marry if you buy the Trio of Towns DLC, is a new development. When I wrote the first sequence when Popuri spoke to her dad, something said to me: what is his deal? In the game, he goes off to 'find a cure' for his wife. By Harvest Moon/Story of Season's standards, this might be realistic but in reality? And I had actually left this rather weird component in place. I said to myself, 'nah, this dude _never_ came back in any of the BTN; he started over'. This changed components of Rick too which is amazing. He was always the archetype crazy murderer. And he was going that direction again with Rinko but he has issues.

What this means for edits, not really sure? I actually had no intention of having Popuri meet Stephanie but I had a thought and it was kind of funny. I _may_ write it this weekend.

My timeline's _may_ be skewed. This should be around the time in Yume where Rosa is thinking about going to school and Chihaya is reeling over it being in the States. This of course puts this in the midst of some of the Yume events which Koji mentions when he talks to Popuri.

I have literally no idea why Otome is on hiatus? But it is and I will get back to that in the nearish future. I think I have one more hill to tackle…

Thanks for reading, as always.

Always~  
Dark Ryuu 


End file.
